According to a recent poll by Ipsos, nine out of 10 seniors feel it’s at least somewhat important to stay in their current home through their retirement.
“The poll, which surveyed Canadian homeowners of all ages, found that those aged 65 and over are significantly more likely than younger homeowners to attach importance to living out their retirement years at home,” the report stated.
The poll surveyed Canadian homeowners of all ages, and found that Canadians aged 65 and over are more likely than younger homeowners to value living out their retirement years in their home. By contrast, only half of those aged 25 to 34 say it’s important for them to stay in their home when they’ve retired.
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With detached family homes few and far between in Canada’s major housing markets, these trends may leave new homebuyers in a lurch. A HuffPost report states that construction of new detached homes in Toronto and Vancouver have declined to their lowest rates in decades, partially due to rising land prices and municipal density requirements.
Therefore, new homebuyers are largely competing for existing homes, even as city populations continue to grow, contributing to soaring prices in recent years.
This may explain the increase in realtors approaching homeowners about selling their home, primarily in Ontario — in particular those over the age of 75, a quarter of whom responded that they’d been approached by a realtor unsolicited, having never expressed interest in selling their homes before.
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“Regionally, realtors appear to be most active in Ontario, where the highest proportion of homeowners aged 55 and over (27%) report having been approached by one,” read the report.
Furthermore, HuffPost reported that without an influx of homes coming back on the market as Canada’s population continues to age, new homebuyers may face an uphill battle competing for a home.
In addition, seniors may be avoiding downsizing for a fear of not getting as much bang for their buck as they’d hoped, as the housing market begins to cool in Canada’s major metropolises.
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Seniors thinking of downsizing to free up some cash for retirement may be reevaluating their expectations, especially if their live in Toronto or Vancouver, Global News previously reported.
“Sellers will still make a profit, but they might walk away with less money” than they would have made until recently, Penelope Graham, managing editor at real estate website Zoocasa, told Global News in June.
That’s because prices for single-family homes in both cities are dipping or coasting, but condo prices are still soaring.
While the outlook for new homebuyers may seem bleak, things may be looking up.
In 2018, it seems that cities like Vancouver and Edmonton are seeing a surplus in home inventory for the first time in years, though prices have yet to react.
The supply of homes for sale in Metro Vancouver reached a three-year high in June, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV). REBGV president Phil Moore attributed the increases to a combination of factors.
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“Buyers are less active today. This is allowing the supply of homes for sale to accumulate to levels we haven’t seen in the last few years,” Moore said in a media release.
According to the chair of the Realtors Association in Edmonton, housing inventory is at it’s highest peak since 2008.
“We had a little bit more in 2008. But it’s definitely the highest since then,” Darcy Torhjelm said. “There’s lots to choose from in just about every category.”
— With files from Erica Alini and Simon Little
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