What should homeowners expect in the nearest future?

One of the main segments of Canada’s economy that has shown a fast recovery is a real estate market.

Although many sectors keep climbing slowly out of the economic depths from the first wave of pandemic, housing and realtors saw increased demand.

Due to weaker restrictions and desire dominating over fear, the real estate market recovered quickly in the summer and still keeps beating records.

Nevertheless, the next months will not be so shiny for homeowners, particularly as mortgage payment breaks expire and other support measures are closed. And don’t forget about those who lose their jobs.

According to Mortgage Professionals Canada (MPC), certain homeowners will face strong difficulties.

“As mortgage deferral programs end for many in September, some homeowners are probably thinking whether they can cope with their payments or they need to sell the property,” – noted Paul Taylor, President and CEO of MPC. “We believe the influence on the market and consumers’ sentiments will be seen in our next report.”

The poll shows that 23% of respondents expect “some difficulty” with their payments because of the pandemic, and 4% predict “a lot of difficulty”. At the same time, it turns out little has changed from the previous two quarterly surveys.

While disappointment is inevitable for some owners, the overall sentiment in the Canadian real estate market is still high.

According to MPC’s chief economist Will Dunning, the Canadians who were negatively affected by the COVID-19, have faced the impact of it on their ability to purchase a property as well.

However, he also says extra time spent at home has attracted attention to weaknesses in their domestic set-ups.

Only 7% of non-owners said they were planning a home purchase during the next 12 months in the previous MPC poll. Now it’s 19%. In addition to it, the number of those who never intend to purchase a property has halved to only 16%.