The Canadian residential mortgage market crossed the $1-trillion threshold for the first time this year as higher prices forced many to borrow heavily to finance their new homes and low interest rates encouraged many more to refinance.

The Canadian Association of Mortgage Professionals said in its annual report to be released Monday that there were $1,008,000,000 in mortgages outstanding at the end of August, a gain of 7.6 per cent in one year. Over the past 15 years, the volume of outstanding mortgages has increased by 194 per cent.

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