Many of the
thoughts – the good, bad, and ugly – Ontario residents currently have on the
province’s real estate market have been revealed, thanks to a survey of some 2000
respondents from Abacus Data that was commissioned by the Ontario Real Estate
Association.
Coming as no
surprise, the impossible to ignore rising cost of living is widely recognized,
with 95% of respondents saying it’s more expensive today than two years prior.
This is inspiring nearly half of Ontarians to consider making difficult
choices. As a result, 81% of respondents say that the rising cost of living is
the number one priority for the provincial government to focus on.
While more
Ontarians think housing prices have declined which they have there has been no
change in the difficulty of buying a home, suggesting that housing
affordability has not improved. Of course, climbing interest rates are to blame
a point driven home earlier this week by Canada’s top economists.
Despite the
grim affordability reality, the survey revealed that the desire to own a home is
growing, with 69% of non-homeowners saying they are someone who really wants to
own a home, with just 5% of respondents saying they would be happy renting
forever.
Rising
interest rates are already driving homeowners with a mortgage to take steps to
reduce their spending. In fact, if rates continue to rise, 21% of these
homeowners will need to consider selling their home. Given that this is even
higher among those who are younger, rising rates coupled with declining home
values will have the largest impact on those who most recently entered the
housing market.
The report
revealed that nearly two-thirds of the province’s households are spending over
30% of their household budget on housing, with the Ontario average landing at
41.9% Renters, on average, are spending 11.2% more than homeowners. With a
growing number of would-be homeowners remaining renters, the market is
currently plagued by increasingly unattainable rent prices.
It should
come as no surprise then that Ontarians want to see local government place even
more urgency on housing affordability.
Since January,
the rising cost of living continues to increase in priority for Ontarians as
does improving the health care (78%, +6%) and education (57%, +6%) systems.
Housing affordability remains a high priority and the second most important
priority for those under 45 years of age (79%).
Women and
younger Ontarians are the most likely to be placing a high priority on the
rising cost of living: in fact, 63% of women and 61% of those under 30 says it
is their top priority. Almost everyone (95%) recognizes a more expensive cost
of living and 74% think the cost of living is ‘much more’ expensive. Women, in
particular, recognize the ‘much more’ rising cost of things (80% vs 67% of
men).
Even though
the housing market has reportedly softened over the past few months, rising
interest rates continue to force Ontarians to widely believe that housing is
more expensive: 98% agree with this sentiment, with 76% strongly agreeing.
Written
By: STOREYS
Editorial Team
Source By:
STOREYS