12 march 2010

Judging by the poll results, the number of Canadians potential home buyers rose to 10% from 7% two years ago.

Young respondents (18-24 y.o.) were particularly interested: the number of those planning to buy a home rose to 15% from 8% in 2009.

The Canadian real-estate market situation has been stable for 12 months, even after very low interest rates at the end of 2008 – the beginning of 2009.

According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., the average resale home price in Canada rose up 19% from a year earlier, and in December 2009 it was $337,410. The sales were up 72%.

In this situation 60% of survey respondents said they expect housing prices to rise in 2010 (approximately from 25% in 2009).

Of those who intend to buy a home in the next two years, 44% choose a fixed-rate mortgage.

In addition to it, this year combination mortgages are becoming more popular: 40% are planning to take both a variable and a fixed-rate component (32% more than last year).

“Canadians seem to be opting for more caution this year and may be factoring in potential rate increases down the road,” said Marcia Moffat, RBC’s head of home equity financing.

“Choosing a combination mortgage can save you trouble of making a difficult decision: lock in to a longer term or stay in a variable rate.”

The poll of 2,047 Canadian adults was conducted online by Ipsos Reid from Jan. 8-13. It considered accurate to within 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.