Mortgage Professionals Canada has launched a series of new surveys designed to gauge the sentiment of Canadians toward home ownership during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The survey will be run four times over 24 weeks. It examines four main aspects of home ownership and home buying sentiment in Canada:
- How Covid-19 has affected employment and incomes
- Impacts on expectations about buying homes
- Attitudes and expectations on topics related to housing markets and mortgages
- Opinions about the mortgage deferral program.
The first results were released last week. They suggest that more than half of current home owners (57%) do not feel that their employment situation has been severely impacted by COVID-19. Many others expect any changes or impacts will be short-term. The report also indicates that the “vast majority” (72%) of owners are comfortable with their current mortgage debt.
“Overwhelmingly (90%) … they remain pleased with the decision to purchase a home,” says MPC in a release.
The survey shows an increase in expectations for home ownership in the near future: Among non-homeowners, 14% now expect to buy a home in the next year. That is up from 7%; double what it was at the end of last year. More current owners are also looking at buying a new or additional property.
"What we have seen clearly is that the vast majority of home owners are not feeling a long-term financial impact related to COVID-19, and that potential home buyers are still very much in the market for a home, signs of which are being seen in regions across the country," says Paul Taylor, President and CEO of MPC.