several other factors pushing home prices to record highs. However, a recent survey has found that there may be a slowdown in activity, as more Canadians take a step back and as assess market conditions.
In the annual RBC Home Ownership Poll, the share of respondents who said they were likely to purchase a home in the next two years stood at 23 per cent. This was roughly the same level of home-buying intention back in January 2020 before the pandemic hit. The latest figure was a seven per cent decrease from last year, when 30 per cent of participants said they intended to buy a home.
Signalling a shift back to pre-pandemic norms, 59 per cent of the respondents said location is more important than buying a larger home. With pandemic-induced restrictions beginning to ease, 27 per cent of the participants said the pressure of buying a home has now declined from the peak of the global health crisis, while 30 per cent revealed plans to continue to live with their parents to save enough to buy a home.
“While there is still a significant amount of activity in the market, our research indicates that the rush of Canadians looking to purchase a home over the last two years has subsided and we’re now starting to see a move back to pre-pandemic levels,” said Andrea Metrick, RBC’s senior director of home equity financing, acquisition and distribution, in a press release on Monday (21 March). “Between rising costs and the competitiveness of the market, Canadians may now be taking a step back and setting aside more time to plan and save before making the jump into home ownership.”
