Four-in-ten buyers would cut back on food
November 21, 2019
A new survey of Canadian homebuyers shows that 44 per cent would cut back on food to be able to afford their home. This is among the startling findings in the annual Mortgage Consumer Survey released November 15 by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
The survey shows that people are not only hungry for home ownership, they are willing to sacrifice to buy and keep their homes.
The majority of buyers (59 per cent) reduced their non-essential expenditures since owning a home. Aside from food, the most common area where they chose to cut back was on entertainment (66 per cent) and vacations (55 per cent). About one quarter of the homebuyers surveyed (26 per cent) applied for a tax credit or rebate with their purchase, such as the federal First-Time Buyer Incentive program that was introduced September 2.
The number of buyers spending the maximum amount they could afford on their home fell to 60 per cent in 2019, a significant drop from 78 per cent in 2018, the survey found.
The number of first-time homebuyers who had rented housing with family and friends before making their home purchase increased from 28 per cent in 2018 to 44 per cent in 2019, the study discovered.
Despite more moderate home prices in much of the country, around 23 per cent of homebuyers in 2019 said their current level of debt is higher than they were expecting. This number is up from 19 per cent of buyers in 2018.