More than half of Canadian renters plan to buy. So what's stopping them?

Global News

6 hours ago

New data shows that although more than half of Canadian renters say they spend more than a third of their net income on rent, many are seriously considering purchasing a home sooner rather than later.
However, there are factors holding them back.
'Affordability has improved and we wanted to understand if that had impacted the attitude of renters towards making a move from being a tenant to an owner,' says CEO of Royal LePage Phil Soper.
'We did find that 54 per cent of those polled did want to move into owned housing.'
According to the 2025 Canadian Renters Report, 54 per cent of those currently renting their homes this year plan to purchase a property in five years or less, with one-third of those respondents saying they plan to do so within the next two years.
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At the same time, many of those who plan to buy say they're still waiting to jump into the market. This may raise the question — what are they waiting for, exactly?
Of those renters who said they were considering purchasing a home within the next few years, 40 per cent said they were waiting for property prices to decline, while 29 per cent said they were waiting on further interest rate cuts by the Bank of Canada.
The central bank's overnight, or benchmark, interest rate remains at 2.75 per cent, as it has since April with the economy overall taking a cautious approach amid the trade war brought on by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policies.
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'Waiting rarely, rarely works out well…it's very rare to see home prices decline,' says Soper.
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'Home prices don't come down. Just like overall cost of living rises over time, so does the cost of housing, and you shouldn't try to time house prices like you're getting into timing a stock on the Toronto Stock Exchange.'
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For other Canadians surveyed, it may be less about timing the market and more about being priced out of it altogether.
Of those surveyed who currently rent but are looking to purchase within the next five years, more than 25 per cent said the reason they haven't made a purchase yet was that they couldn't qualify for financing or a mortgage.
There are multiple reasons why a bank or other lender may deny a loan, like a mortgage, to someone, including a poor credit score, but if that isn't the case, often it comes down to an insufficient down payment or a household income that is too low to support the monthly payments.
The government of Canada recommends saving personal funds for a down payment on a home between five and 20 per cent of the purchase price, but that varies depending on the price of that home and other factors.
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Many renters may not be able to save enough every month to reach their goals in addition to monthly rent costs.
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The survey results showed that of all renters nationally, 30 per cent said they had to reduce their contributions to savings, retirement or both in order to afford their rent payments.
'It takes sacrifices to live in cities and pay rents or pay mortgages, and I think therein lies one of the challenges with living in a country like Canada where we have a structural housing shortage, we don't have enough homes for our growing population,' says Soper.
'Rent and mortgage payments are high if you want to live in the most vibrant cities with the most employment opportunities.'
Prime Minister Mark Carney campaigned on several affordability measures, including lowering some income taxes and providing GST relief for first-time buyers.
Sales in Canada have already started to rise, as the Canadian Real Estate Association reports that in May, there was a 3.6 per cent increase in the number of units sold, signalling that many buyers who had been waiting took the plunge into the real estate market last month.
The Leger survey, commissioned by Royal LePage, polled more than 1,800 Canadian renters over the age of 18 between June 2 and 9, and included those in major cities such as Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa-Gatineau, Sherbrooke, Que., Quebec City and Montreal.