Posthaste: Poll finds a lot of Canadians want to sell their homes within 3 years
Most Canadian homeowners are not looking to sell in the next three years, but if all those who are planning to sell follow through, there could be a historic number of properties hitting the market, according to a new report by personal finance company NerdWallet Inc.
The study, which interviewed 1,099 Canadian adults, 749 of them homeowners, found that 20 per cent are planning to sell their primary residence within the next three years. Another 41 per cent would like to sell more than five years from now and 31 per cent are not interested in selling at all.
The study used Statistics Canada data on Canada’s current population and home ownership rate to estimate the number of homes that could be listed in the next three years if 20 per cent of homeowners were to sell and found that it would result in approximately 5.4 million new listings — an average of 1.8 million per year — between 2024 and 2026. The report notes that the greatest number of listings Canada has seen in the past decade was in 2015, when just over one million homes were listed for sale.
But the likelihood that all would follow through is extremely low, report author Clary Jarvis wrote, in part because of the various obstacles homeowners face when deciding to sell.
The biggest obstacles preventing homeowners from selling their primary residence in the next three years are the stress of moving (22 per cent), higher mortgage rates potentially affecting homebuyers’ budgets (17 per cent) and having to buy a new home when mortgage rates are high (17 per cent).
Homeowners who plan to sell share the same top concerns: the stress of moving (41 per cent) and higher mortgage rates potentially affecting homebuyers’ budgets (37 per cent), followed by the possibility
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