The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that with home prices vastly outpacing incomes over the past two decades, the number of first-time buyers who have tapped parents to co-sign mortgages has surged, new analysis from the Bank of Canada shows. The Globe's Jason Kirby writes that the share of first-time buyers under the age of 50 who co-signed mortgages with a parent jumped to 11 per cent last year from 4 per cent in 2004, according to research by economist Shaoteng Li. In Toronto and Vancouver, the co-signing cohort now accounts for close to 14 per cent of all first-time mortgages. Based on data for the fourth quarter of 2022, the maximum attainable mortgage for first-time buyers on their own would have topped out at $458,000. Having a parent's signature boosted that to $787,000. However, the more that co-signing borrowers tapped into the additional debt available to them, the more likely they were to eventually become delinquent on credit cards and lines of credit. "In other words, stretching further to buy a more expensive home appears to be associated with a higher risk of financial stress later on," wrote Mr. Li, who added co-signing "may represent an emerging vulnerability for the financial system."