State of the Canadian Housing Market Report Outlines Homebuyer Sentiment and Market Outlook - Mortgage Professionals Canada

Lowest polling on record for Canadians who feel it is a good time to buy their home;
Overwhelming majority continue to view real estate as a good investment

TORONTO, March 16, 2022 /CNW/ - Today, Mortgage Professionals Canada (MPC) released its redesigned semi-annual report on the State of the Housing Market. Canada's housing market underwent a series of shifts related to the pandemic that included changes to home prices, interest rates, home-use habits, and population changes in many communities across the country. The report is commissioned by MPC and authored by Oxford Economics, a world leader in global forecasting and quantitative analysis, and incorporates data collected from a survey of over 2,000 Canadians, issued and tabulated by MPC partner firm, Bond Brand Loyalty.

"As Canadians have seen higher home prices broadly across Canada, this development has impacted the views on homebuying, with only 29% of respondents in our survey stating it was a good time to buy a home in their community", said Paul Taylor, President and CEO of MPC. "This is the lowest share ever recorded in the history of our survey. The overall average sentiment of respondents is demonstrated by the significantly reduced score of 4.2 out of 10, well below the score of 5.5 out of 10 seen over the past three surveys".

Despite the increase in pessimism towards the timing of Canadians' homebuying, 7.3 out of 10 of respondents indicated they believe housing prices will rise, higher than last year's score of 6.9 out of 10. As a whole, Canadians still believe that real estate is a good long-term investment in Canada (7.1 out of 10), which continues to see a consistent score in line with previous survey results.

"We're seeing that 90% of Canadians are happy with their decision to purchase a home, and only 3% are regretting that decision; 7% wish they had purchased a different home", explained Joe Pinheiro, Chair of MPC's Board of Directors. "While Canadians are facing rising interest rates, 64% of respondents indicated they negotiated their rate at renewal, with 48% indicating they negotiated a significant improvement to their first offer received."

Canada continues to see record-breaking real estate transaction figures, including major growth outside the typically-hot markets of the Greater Toronto and Metro Vancouver areas. Despite these figures, the majority of Canadians continue to see their home as a place to live, as opposed to an investment, as a primary motivation to purchase.

"Canadians in our survey considered their home purchase primarily as a place to live (77%) rather than as an investment (23%), a rate that has been rising over the last two years", added Pinheiro. "While investment returns are a secondary consideration, suitability for living remains the driving factor in decision-making."

The full report can be read here.

About Mortgage Professionals Canada

Mortgage Professionals Canada (MPC) is the national mortgage industry association representing almost 15,000 individuals and over 1,000 companies, including mortgage brokerages, lenders, insurers and industry service providers. Our members make up the largest and most respected network of mortgage professionals in Canada. MPC represents members' interests to government, regulators, media and consumers. With our members, the association is dedicated to maintaining a high standard of industry ethics, consumer protection and best practices.

The mortgage broker channel originates almost 40% of all mortgages in Canada and 55% of mortgages for first-time homebuyers, representing approximately $120 billion dollars in economic activity annually. With our diverse and strong membership, Mortgage Professionals Canada is uniquely positioned to speak to issues impacting all aspects of the mortgage origination process.

SOURCE Mortgage Professionals Canada

Christian von Donat, C: 613-408-0498, [email protected]