With home prices at a record-high in Canada, fewer buyers are feeling confident that now is the best time to jump into the housing market.
Mortgage Professionals Canada (MPC) recently released its semi-annual State of the Housing Market report in collaboration with Oxford Economics and Bond Brand Loyalty. In an online survey of over 2,000 home-owning and non-owning Canadians, the report found that just 29 per cent of respondents felt it was a good time to buy a home in their community.
“This is the lowest share ever recorded in the history of our survey,” said MPC’s president and CEO, Paul Taylor, in a press release, who noted that higher real estate prices across the country has impacted views on home buying.
When asked if now is a good or bad time to buy in their community, the average score respondents gave out of 10 was 4.2. This is a noticeable drop from 5.5 out of 10 seen over the past three MPC surveys. Respondents scored an average 7.3 out of 10 when it came to their belief that housing prices will rise, higher than last year’s score of 6.9 out of 10.
However, despite the current pessimism, 90 per cent of respondents said they are happy with their decision to purchase a home. Just three per cent of those surveyed stated that they had regrets over their choice. The remaining seven per cent wished that they had bought a different home.
Real estate still considered a good long-term investment
For many Canadians, property is still considered to be one of the best investments to make.
With an average score of 7.1 out of 10, respondents believe that real estate is a good long-term investment in Canada, a slight decrease from 7.3 out of 10 over the past two years. This drop is likely a result of “a tougher market to enter with higher prices,” said the report.
However, the majority of homeowners in Canada view their property as a place to live, which is the main reason behind their decision to purchase.
“Canadians in our survey considered their home purchase primarily as a place to live (77 per cent) rather than as an investment (23 per cent), a rate that has been rising over the last two years,” said Joe Pinheiro, chair of MPC’s board of directors. “While investment returns are a secondary consideration, suitability for living remains the driving factor in decision-making.”
Most Canadians don’t regret size of their mortgage
Earlier this month, the Bank of Canada hiked the mortgage-influencing overnight rate for the first time in years. It’s been suggested that Canadians will see multiple rate increases this year.
According to the report, 37 per cent of mortgage holders will need to renew their mortgage within the next two years and will likely renew at higher rates, and 51 per cent expect to renew in between two and five years.
“While Canadians are facing rising interest rates, 64 per cent of respondents indicated they negotiated their rate at renewal, with 48 per cent indicating they negotiated a significant improvement to their first offer received,” said Pinheiro.
Respondents stated that they have a low level of regret with their mortgages, giving an average score of 3.6 out of 10 when describing their regret for taking on their mortgage size.
Higher rates will naturally result in higher debt payments as a share of disposable income, the report pointed out, a trend that emerged when the Bank of Canada increased rates prior to the pandemic. However, Oxford Economics said that it believes most households can endure higher payments. Seventy-one per cent of respondents stated that they can afford payments that are 20 per cent or higher than what they currently pay.
“In all, while higher rates will undoubtedly affect some households, most respondents in the survey indicate they can afford a modest increase to their mortgage payments,” said the report.
