About 57% of Ontarians think they will never afford a home in their current city or town, according to a Right at Home Realty survey. .“The impact of rising mortgage rates has reduced the buying power of potential homebuyers,” said Right at Home Realty President John Lusink in a Wednesday press release. .“Another impact of the rising rates is the financial disincentive created for those thinking of selling, but are now faced with much higher financing costs when considering buying their next home.”.The survey said 80% of Ontario homeowners are not planning on selling their homes in the next two to three years, compared to 77% in 2021. Meanwhile, 20% of Ontario homeowners said they were looking at selling. .Right at Home Realty said the top cited reasons for looking at selling were downsizing (33%), moving out of the city (26%), and taking advantage of the current market (23%). The number of homeowners stating they would sell their homes to take advantage of the current market has almost doubled from 11% last year. .The survey said 61% of respondents claimed a mortgage rate increase of 1.5% or less would have no impact on their decision to buy a home, compared to 70% in 2021. Significant discrepancies were identified among different age brackets, with younger age groups being more affected by mortgage rate increases. .Around 41% of Ontarians aged 18 to 34 said mortgage rate increases would not impact their decision to buy a home, compared to 61% and 76% for those aged 35 to 54 and more than 55. .“The cost of house prices is an issue, especially amongst my millennial clients,” said Right at Home Realty real estate agent Milli Pajpani..“Most millennials want a property — either to reside in or invest in — however, many do not have the savings to make those purchases happen because of the current prices.”.The survey went on to say 61% of respondents in the Greater Toronto Area believe they may never be able to afford a home in their current city or town. It said 54% of Ontarians claim economic uncertainties are affecting their decision to buy a home, and 45% reported housing affordability challenges made them consider moving or buying a home in another city or town..“While we will continue to see a drop in market activity, we do not anticipate this will lead to a market crash,” said Lusink. .Housing prices across Canada continued their record-breaking pace in January..The Canadian Real Estate Association reported housing prices rose a record 2.9% in January from December, setting another record increase of 28% year over year, and the national average sale price posted a 21% year-over-year gain. .Canada's average home sale price was a record $748,450 in January..The survey was conducted by Maru Public Opinion on behalf of Right at Home Realty with 813 randomly selected Ontario adults who are Maru Voice Canada online panelists from May 10 to 12. The margin of error was +/- three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
