Consumers across Canada are eager to purchase homes
By Mario Toneguzzi, Canwest News Service
More people now think it is a good time to purchase a home, according to a national survey.
A recent national consumer survey said nearly 90% of recent home purchasers believe that home ownership is a good long-term investment and almost 70% think that now is a good time to purchase a home.
The mortgage consumer survey by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. also indicated that recent purchasers are knowledgeable about the mortgage process and their lender’s assessment of eligibility – 86% said the level of total housing and other monthly payments should generally not exceed 40% of gross household income.
“Given the current economy, this study indicates that Canadians continue to be optimistic about home ownership and are astute mortgage consumers,” said Francois Blouin, director of insurance products and strategic direction for the CMHC. “Our results reaffirm what we have seen in previous surveys — when it comes to their mortgages, Canadians are informed and manage their debt prudently.”
According to the survey, 75% of purchasers have a goal to be mortgage free sooner than their original amortization. In fact, 20% of recent purchasers report having made a lump-sum payment to their mortgage.
Historic low mortgage rates combined with less expensive homes compared with a year ago have sparked activity in the local real estate market. May witnessed the first year-over-year gain in single family MLS sales since September and since April 2007 for condos.
A pent-up demand has been building with many first-time homebuyers now taking advantage of affordable prices, record low interest rates and federal government housing incentives.
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