Over half of Metro Vancouver homebuyers engaged in bidding wars

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.

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. (CMHC)

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

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

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