Canadian Real Estate Market Sentiment
- 56 per cent of Canadians who are planning to engage in the real estate market say they expect to do so within less than a year
- Almost half (44 per cent) of Canadians believe that the real estate market will bounce back to the strength it was before COVID-19 by 2021
- 29 per cent of Canadians believe that before the end of 2020, the Canadian housing market will return to its pre-pandemic strength
Toronto, ON and Kelowna, BC, June 16, 2020 – Nothing is symmetrical about the effect of COVID-19 on the housing market. In the same manner that Canada learned containment lessons from other countries where the virus hit earlier, we can also look to these economies to assess the potential rebound in our own economy and the Canadian housing market.
Looking at European markets that are similar to Canada in economic strength and regulatory frameworks, such as parts of Scandinavia, optimism in the Canadian housing market seems well placed. The same can be said in the U.S., where despite a national decline in sales of 20 per cent, consumer fears are beginning to subside as restrictions start to ease and activity picks up, particularly in secondary and tertiary markets.
According to a Leger survey conducted on behalf of RE/MAX Canada, 56 percent of Canadians who are planning to engage in the real estate market expect to do so in less than a year, showing an eagerness to get back to buying and selling.
“The market has definitely seen a steep decline in the volume of transactions in the last few months, but in much of Canada, transactions have been happening and prices in particular have been resilient. Now that economies are beginning to re-open across the country and in light of some of the recent activity we’ve seen in various cities across Canada, as well as in certain European and U.S. markets, we anticipate that demand could begin to improve much faster than we initially anticipated at the beginning of COVID-19,” says Christopher Alexander, Executive Vice President and Regional Director, RE/MAX of Ontario-Atlantic Canada. “Regions such as Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver are excellent examples, and are already experiencing an uptick in activity and the number of multiple-offer scenarios, pointing to a post-lockdown housing market outlook that is not nearly as dire as some suggested.”
As restrictions begin to ease in Europe and the U.S., outcomes are dependent upon locality and the economic conditions of a state, country, and city prior to the crisis.
