COVID-19 Stokes Canadian Homebuying Intentions: MPC Report
The global pandemic may have brought the Canadian real estate sector to a near standstill this spring, but over the longer term it appears to have stoked homebuying intentions.
Fourteen percent of current renters say they plan to purchase a home within the next 12 months, up from 7% reported in late 2019, according to new survey results released by Mortgage Professionals Canada. The percentage of renters who say they would never purchase a house has also fallen by more than half, from 32% at year-end 2019 to 14% post-COVID.
Among current homeowners, the results show 9% plan to buy within the next year, which is also up from 7% at year-end 2019.
Study author Will Dunning, Chief Economist at MPC, admitted to being surprised by the results showing increased homebuying expectations for the near future.
“It is possible that the evolving emergency has caused more non-owners to decide that they want to buy homes (for example, to move out of an apartment building, where social distancing is challenging, to a lower-density environment),” he noted, while adding historically low mortgage rates are also making homeownership more affordable.
Dunning did caution, however, that buying intentions don’t always fully translate into actual home purchases, for several reasons.
“Some people, when they research their options, may decide not to buy,” he said. “Or, they might discover that because of the mortgage stress tests, they would be unable to obtain the financing they would require.”
Reasons for Wanting to Buy a Home
The top reasons cited by renters for wanting to purchase a home include:
- 28%: “I want to live in a nicer home”
- 14%: “My home is no longer suitable”
- 14%: The current situation makes this a good time to get a deal”
- 12%: “Low interest rates make this a good time to buy”
- 11%: “I want to live somewhere less expensive”
For existing homeowners, their biggest motivator for wanting to purchase a new home is that their current home is no longer suitable (38%), whether due to size or location. Another 13% said they want to live in a nicer home, while 12% cite low interest rates.
The report further explored reasons why respondents said their current dwelling is not suitable, the majority of which are directly related to the lockdowns in place earlier in the year:
- “Spending more time at home means I need more space”
- 31% for owners and 33% for non-owners
- “The space isn’t conducive to the inclusion of a dedicated work area and can’t be or isn’t easily modified”
- 17% for owners, 24% for non-owners
- “When quarantined, the property doesn’t support my mental health or provide enough outdoor space”
- 14% for owners, 17% for non-owners
- “I need to live somewhere where social distancing is easier”
- 9% for owners, 7% for non-owners
Additional Mortgage Consumer Trends
Here are some of the other key findings from MPC’s report, Rapidly Evolving Expectations in the Housing Market:
- House price growth expectations
- They’re the “smallest we’ve ever seen,” the report noted
- Canadians’ confidence in their ability to weather a downturn in the housing market
- Unchanged from pre-pandemic results, at a score of 6.91 out of 10, with 10 representing strong agreement
- How Canadians view their homes
- They predominantly see their homes as a place to live (75%), and to a lesser degree as an investment (25%)
- Is now is a relatively good time to buy?
- There was a slight rise in the score among homeowners, but a more significant rise among non-owners, from a negative score of 5.23 at the end of 2019 to a positive score of 6.28 in this survey
- Interest rate expectations
- Responses in previous surveys “always show an expectation of rising rates”
- The latest response “might be the lowest ever recorded by this survey”
- COVID-19 impacts
- 20% of homeowners reported impaired income due to COVID-19
- 68% of first-time buyers and 75% of repeat buyers said they would have no difficulty making their mortgage payments
- 1% of first-time buyers said they would only be able to make partial or infrequent payments (vs. 0% for repeat buyers)
“What we have seen clearly is that the vast majority of homeowners are not feeling a long-term financial impact related to COVID-19, and that potential homebuyers are still very much in the market for a home, signs of which are being seen in regions across the country,” said Paul Taylor, President and CEO of Mortgage Professionals Canada.