As part of its 2021 Canadian Housing Survey, Statistics Canada (StatsCan) recently released its assessment of the housing situation in Canada.
Several significant shifts and trends have occurred in the nation’s housing market between 2011 and 2021, according to this report, which details and analyses changes from 2011 to 2021. These changes include the affordability and value of housing, the preference for renting versus buying homes, and others. Research on the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on consumer choices as well as the housing market’s transition.
In the following section, we summarize the most important findings from the 2021 Canadian Housing Survey:
General Information
A number of noteworthy observations were made in the most recent StatsCan housing survey.
- Changes in housing supply and demand and Canadians’ altered expectations have significantly impacted home prices.
- After continuing to grow until February 2022, housing prices started to decline over the spring and summer as a result of interest rate increases intended to stop inflation.
- In 2021, 39.9% of households in the downtown area were condo owners, and more than half (50.1%) of these condos were rented.
Although the need for basic housing has lessened, it is still significant
When a resident cannot afford alternative housing in the community because their residence is not suitable, inadequate, or costly, this is called having a “core housing need.” Between 2016 and 2021, home affordability and income increased, resulting in a decrease in those living in this situation from 12.7% to 10.1%.
603,040 of these Canadians (8.8%) will be children, which is unfortunate. There was a decrease of 4.5% in the number of young people requiring core housing from the previous five years (13.3% in 2016). There was a lower likelihood of Millennials living with a roommate having a “core housing demand” than those living alone (7.4% to 15.3%, respectively).
Positively changing perceptions of housing affordability are higher salaries
The rise in personal income levels among homeowners around the country is one of the main reasons for Canadians’ reduced demand for basic housing. A decrease of more than three percent has been achieved in the rate of unaffordable housing.
Expenses for housing accounted for at least 30% of household income in 2016, according to 24.1% of Canadian households. In 2021, this was reported at 20.9%. Renters and homeowners perceived that their dwellings were more affordable because of transitory COVID-19 advantages.
The rate of affordable housing in Canadian urban centers declined from 40.0% in 2016 to 33.2% in 2021, despite a higher-than-average rate of affordability issues among renters in 33 of 42 studied downtown districts.
Over time, there is an upward trend in home values
As personal income levels rose in Ontario and British Columbia between 2016 and 2021, expected property values also increased in both major and small municipalities (also known as census subdivisions, or CSDs). The predicted home values in Ontario’s CSDs increased by over 50% in 77.8% of cases. A 46.1% share this characteristic in British Columbia’s CSDs.
As more condominiums are built, more Canadians are beginning to favor living in them
A condominium relocation is becoming increasingly valuable to Canadians in terms of value. There was an increase of about 2% in “occupied condominiums” between 2016 and 2021, from 13.3% to 15%.
90% of the nation’s condominiums are found in Canada’s census metropolitan areas (CMAs), which had 39.9% of all occupied residential space being condominiums as of 2021.
More and more newly constructed homes are being rented
According to StatsCan, 40.4% of the homes constructed between 2016 and 2021 were occupied by renters in addition to newly constructed living spaces. Just below the post-war apartment boom of the 1960s, this is Canada’s second-highest tenant rate.
It is estimated that over one-third (36.6%) of all newly constructed homes in Canada will be occupied by Millennial renters and owners by the year 2021. The generation that made up the largest percentage of condo owners, at 30.2%, had the highest share of any generation.
More than twice as many people are moving into rentals as into homes
Homeownership has fallen by 3.5% in the past ten years, from 69% in 2011 to 66.5% in 2021, reflecting the trend described above regarding an increase in renting across the country. The percentage of Canadians who own their homes is declining at the same time that the number of renter households is increasing (+21.5%), nearly three times as fast as the number of owner households (+8.4%).
A major factor attributed to the decline in homeownership among younger people in 2021 can be attributed to their changing housing preferences. People in this age range in 2021, such as young millennials aged 25 to 29, have made it obvious that they do not want to own a home. Today, only 36.5% of people in the same age group report a desire to own a home. In 2011, 44.1% expressed such a desire; now it’s 36.5%.
