Posthaste: Canadians are getting sick of waiting on sidelines for housing market to improve
A growing number of Canadians appear to be getting fed up with waiting on the sidelines for the housing market to improve.
Just 20 per cent of potential homebuyers say they’ll wait for prices to drop before making a move to enter the market, and only 21 per cent intend to wait for interest rate cuts, according to Dye & Durham Ltd.’s new consumer trends research for the fourth quarter of 2023.
Those numbers mark a decrease from the third quarter, when 24 per cent said they’d hold off on buying a house until prices came down and 23 per cent said they’d wait for rates to fall.
“It appears that many prospective homebuyers are growing tired of trying to time the market,” Martha Vallance, chief operating officer at Dye & Durham, said in a release.
Homeowners are also warming up to the idea of listing their properties for sale and buying a new one sometime this year. The number planning to sell has ticked up to 12 per cent in the fourth quarter from 10 per cent in Q3.
Even renters who had abandoned buying a home are starting to come around, the research showed, with eight per cent planning to look for a home in the next 12 months, compared to six per cent in the third quarter.
“Inflation is cooling and interest rates are stabilizing, and with that Canadians are telling us that they have renewed optimism in the outlook for their housing plans,” Vallance said.
Still, most people don’t expect home ownership to grow more affordable this year. Over half think home prices will rise, with 16 per cent expecting big hikes. They’re not very hopeful mortgage rates will come down, either, and only 19 per cent expect decreases this year.
Many also don’t feel that great about their personal finances heading into 2024. Forty-four per cent
Read more on financialpost.com
