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Over half of Metro Vancouver homebuyers engaged in bidding wars: CMHC

Kenneth Chan
Kenneth Chan
|
Jun 13 2019, 8:59 pm
Over half of Metro Vancouver homebuyers engaged in bidding wars: CMHC
Home for sale sign. (Shutterstock)

A new study by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) deviates from the crown corporation’s usual traditional economic analysis by gauging public opinion on factors that influence the country’s housing trends.

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CMHC’s Homebuyers’ Motivations survey found that an overwhelming 70% of Metro Vancouver homebuyers felt foreign investors had “a lot of influence” on house prices in the region, followed by 63% stating city attractiveness, 47% indicating land scarcity, 46% indicating domestic investors, and 46% indicating population growth.

Homebuyers in Montreal also believed foreign investors (52%) were the greatest factor in home price changes.

But Toronto homebuyers had different takes on their housing market, with population growth (63%) believed as the leading factor, followed by city attractiveness (59%), interest rate (48%), and foreign investors (47%).

Survey respondents also noted their price growth expectations for Vancouver’s housing market went from 10% in 2017 to 1% in 2018, but 50% of local homebuyers also spent “more than they planned” when purchasing their home while 42% spent “about what they planned.”

Over half of Metro Vancouver homebuyers who purchased a home were engaged in a bidding war, with single-detached home buyers at 51% and condominium buyers at 58%. The proportions of homebuyers engaged in a bidding war between 2017 and 2018 did not change.

Factors that have a lot of influence on house prices: CMHC survey

Factors that have a lot of influence on house prices, according to respondents, by CMA, 2018

Factors that have a lot of influence on house prices, according to respondents, by CMA, 2018. (CMHC)

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