The  jump in home values in the London region last year had a spinoff benefit, a decrease in bankruptcy filings.

Bankruptcy filings in the London region (which includes Elgin and Huron County) were down 16 per cent in 2017. Filings nationally and provincially each were down about nine per cent, according to the federal bankruptcy superintendent.

A study done by debt-relief firm Hoyes, Michalos and Associates Inc. showed Londoners had an average debt of $42,593 and a debt-to-income ratio of 146 per cent.

As long as the real estate stays strong, insolvencies will keep going down

Doug Hoyes

Doug Hoyes, co-founder of the Kitchener-based firm, said people with equity in their home can stave off bankruptcy by refinancing or getting a second mortgage.

London-St. Thomas home sales set a record last year and the average sale price in February was $343,000, up 10.8 per cent over the same month last year.

“As long as the real estate stays strong, insolvencies will keep going down,” said Hoyes.

He noted Burlington-Oakville has an an average household debt of $85,991 and a debt-to-income ratio of 277 per cent. Yet the number of bankruptcies in the region was down 21 per cent, because of the high value of homes.

“If you owned a home for more than a few year, you likely have a lot of equity. The people who are filing for bankruptcy are those that don’t own a home,” he said.

Hoyes said another factor driving down consumer bankruptcies is lenders’ greater willingness to accept a consumer proposal to pay off a percentage of the debt and avoid outright bankruptcy. Hoyes said about 58 per cent of consumer insolvencies in the London area were avoided with proposals last year, rather than bankruptcies.

He said banks and other lenders more often are willing to settle for  about 30 cents on the dollar for unsecured debt.

“They are more willing than they have been in the past because they don’t want you to go bankrupt where they end up with even less,” he said.

Hoyes says rising home values also tend to boost household debt and stimulate the local economy because of the “wealth effect.”

“You feel richer when your house is up on value, so you go on vacation or put a deck on your house and you may be borrowing to do that.”

Hoyes said bankruptcy filings peaked back in 2009 and have been falling since, but he warned that could change as interest rates creep higher.

He said a major culprit in bankruptcies is payday loan lenders which charge very high interest. More consumers are turning to payday lenders as banks tighten their borrowing rules. He said about one-third of people filing for insolvency have payday loans.

“It takes a lot less debt to get into more trouble,” Hoyes said.