Despite COVID, Canadians maintain a mostly positive attitude about homeownership, says Will Dunning, chief economist of Mortgage Professionals Canada and author of Rapidly Evolving Expectations in the Housing Market based on a survey conducted from Aug. 7 to 24.
“For a decade, our consumer surveys have investigated opinions on some housing-related and mortgage-related issues,” says Dunning. “The new data indicates that, in general, opinions have not become more negative during this emergency period.”
Dunning’s key findings from the survey:
- Mortgage holders are showing reduced levels of regret about their mortgages.
- There is still a high degree of confidence that real estate is a good long-term investment.
- There has been a very small reduction in the opinion that mortgages are ‘good debt.’
- There has been a downshift in confidence about the economic outlook. However, it might be surprising that the degree of confidence is almost exactly at the neutral level.
- There is now more confidence that this is a good time to buy a home.
- Homeowners have not become more worried about their ability to weather a downturn in the housing market. However, they show a small reduction in confidence about the impact of higher interest rates.
Concerning interest rates, “Every time we have asked, the responses have shown an expectation that rates will rise. This time is not an exception, although this new data indicates that the expected amount of increase might be the smallest we’ve ever seen,” says Dunning. “Canadians continue to see homeownership as primarily a place to live, and secondarily as an investment. In the COVID-19 period, the opinion has not budged: Homeownership is 75 percent about the housing and 25 percent about the investment aspect.
“Very few Canadians regret becoming homeowners and that opinion has not changed.”
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2020
