Millennials still hot for home buying

September 12, 2022





Younger adults in Canada remain optimistic about home buying with 60 per cent believing they will be able to buy a house in the future, according to a survey by Royal LePage.
The online survey of 2,003 Canadian millennials—those now aged from 26 to 41—who are not homeowners found that home ownership is as important as it has been for any generation, perhaps more so. The survey was conducted by Leger.
When broken out by age, 62 per cent of respondents under the age of 35 say they believe they will own a home one day, compared to 56 per cent of those aged 35 and up.
The survey suggests there could be a surge of millennials looking to buy a home in the next few years. Across the country, more than four million individuals are planning to buy a house within five years
Sadly, 25 per cent of non-homeowner millennials across the country do not believe they will ever own a home.
"Policy makers should take note that between millennial demand, immigration and the growing pipeline of those who could not transact over the last two years, more supply is required,” said Royal LePage president and CEO Phil Soper in the press release.
When these sidelined buyers take action, “we could see another surge in price appreciation, following short-term economic softening,” Soper noted.
Millennials living in Vancouver (58 per cent), Montreal (54 per cent) and Toronto (48 per cent) are the most concerned their current salaries will not increase enough to be able to buy a home in their hometown.
The survey found 40 per cent of millennials would even find a new job, if they could work remotely.
"Currently the largest proportion of our population, and so arguably the most impactful, millennials are a resilient group who are willing to make the necessary sacrifices in order to reach this milestone,” Soper said.
Twenty per cent of millennials in Canada say their ideal work/life scenario would be to live outside the city and work fully remotely; the most popular answer of all options offered. The second most popular option—at 14 per cent of respondents—is to live in the city and work fully remotely.