Market Commentary - March 30, 2016
Student debt, lackluster job prospects and skyrocketing prices do not appear to have diminished the dream of home ownership for that group of potential first-time buyers known as millennials.
A new survey conducted by Angus Reid for one of the big banks suggests 86% of 18 to 34 year-olds believe home ownership is important. Fifty-nine percent say it offers a sense of personal freedom. Currently 36% of millennials are home owners, 42% are renters and 21% live with their parents.
Eighty-five percent of Canadians, as a whole, believe home ownership is important. The majority cite the classic reasons: building equity and saving for retirement.
Tellingly though, the survey also suggests that nearly one in five Canadians (15%) do not think home ownership is important. Nearly half of the respondents (46%) say buying a home is too great a financial burden.
Lacking from the survey is any historical comparison so it is impossible to know whether any of these numbers are up or down from previous years.