More people in Canada and in Alberta are falling behind in paying their mortgages — a trend that is expected to continue throughout this year.

And a mortgage symposium in Calgary on Thursday also heard that 55 per cent of mortgage defaults in the country are due to people being “over-extended” with nearly 80 per cent of those defaults by borrowers taking place in the first three years of a mortgage.

“It’s an alarming statistic,” said Brian Bell, vice-president of products and marketing for AIG United Guaranty, at the symposium, organized by the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals.

He said the main causes for mortgage default after over-extension are job loss, reduced income and divorce. Bell also said the highest probability of default was for single-person applicants by 75 per cent followed by first-time buyers and business for self borrowers.

“It’s much easier for them to get over-extended,” said Bell of the single-person borrower.

Bell said the Canadian housing market had been running for about 12 years in a boom market. But that has now changed with unemployment numbers rising, house prices falling, and defaults increasing.

According to statistics by the Canadian Bankers Association, the number of mortgages in arrears in January increased to 14,024, representing 0.36 per cent of all mortgages with the country’s major banks. Mortgage arrears is for three or more months. That number has risen from 10,100 or 0.27 per cent in January 2008.

Alberta has seen a spike in the number of mortgages in arrears. The CBA data shows 2,168 in January or 0.45 per cent of the total compared with 941 or 0.20 per cent in January 2008.

The number of mortgages in arrears in the province has been increasing from a low of 649 (0.14 per cent) in May 2007.

In Alberta, the total number of mortgages in arrears has risen every single month since September 2007, according to CBA statistics, while for Canada there have been consecutive monthly increases since April 2008.

In speaking to mortgage professionals on Thursday, Bell said those individuals who go into default face losing their house, financial hardship, stress and possible bankruptcy.

The earlier mortgage professionals can reach homeowners who are in difficulty the better the likelihood they will be able to stay in their homes, he said.

In Calgary, average MLS sale prices for single-family homes peaked at $505,920 in July 2007 and for condos at $332,237 in May 2007.

According to the website of Mike Fotiou, of First Place Realty, unofficial MLS data for single-family home sales for this month until March 25 had an average price of $424,086, up from $415,568 for the entire month of February. Similarly, condo prices have also risen to $281,379 month-to-date compared with $268,971 last month.