Nearly three-quarters (72%) of Canadians with a mortgage hope to be mortgage-free by the time they reach age 65, but one-third (33%) of older Canadians (those over the age of 55) have 16 or more years left on their mortgage term, according to the latest RBC Housing Snapshot poll.

 “Canadians want to be mortgage-free as they approach retirement age and beyond, but the reality is that it takes prudent planning and the right advice to stay on track,” said Claude DeMone, Director of Strategy for Home Equity Financing, RBC. “Using flexible and accelerated payment options are an easy and pain-free way to help take years off your mortgage and save thousands of dollars in interest costs.”

Canadians overwhelmingly say that a low interest rate is the most important feature when choosing a mortgage (96%). Almost nine-in-10 Canadians also say that accelerated payment options (85%) and flexible payment options (88%) are important and desirable features.

 Looking ahead, the majority of Canadians expect steady interest rates in the next six to 12 months. Almost one-in-five Canadians (18%) expect rates will rise less than 1%. Just over a quarter of respondents (26%) think interest rates will rise more than 1% in the same time period.

Click here for the RBC press release.