Many Canadians remain undeterred from buying a home despite the soaring costs of entering the market, a survey from NerdWallet showed.
 
Owning a home is a priority for two-thirds of Canadians (67 per cent) and almost half (43 per cent) of all respondents stated they are looking to buy a property within the next five years, a report released on Thursday revealed. 
 
Despite the optimism, Canadians face a number of barriers such as a rising interest rate environment and high home prices, the report said.
 
Of those planning to use a down payment to buy a house in the next five years, 24 per cent said they have not yet started saving for it yet. 
 
"Homeownership may not be a realistic goal for many hopeful buyers, but their time horizons do indicate a practical understanding of the housing market’s current state,” the report said.
 
The risk of an insufficient down payment will ultimately shut millions of people out of housing market, it added. 
 
Roughly one-third (34 per cent) of respondents said they wanted to buy a home because they view it as a good investment, while 20 per cent want a property to pass down to their future children.
 
Others listed additional space and planning for the future as other driving factors behind buying a property.
 
The age group most eager to enter the housing market within the next three years are those aged 18 to 34 (37 per cent), followed by those aged 35 to 44 (36 per cent).
 
Canadians aged 55 and over are the least enthusiastic about buying a home, with only nine per cent planning to purchase a property in the next three years.
 
“Canadians should feel optimistic about purchasing a home, especially if they’re proactive in getting their finances in order before getting started,” Shannon Terrell, personal finance expert at NerdWallet Canada, said in the report. 
 
“That’s not to say optimism alone will clinch your dream home, but believing you can succeed will keep you going — and making prudent financial decisions — if the market does say ‘no’.”
 
Methodology:

The survey was conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of NerdWallet from Jan. 5-8, 2023 among 1,012 Canadian adults ages 18 and older. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within +/- four percentage points using a 95 per cent confidence level.