Canadian millennials overwhelmingly believe that owning their own home is an important milestone (84%) but many feel challenged by the cost and housing policies.
A survey from Zoocasa asked 1,431 Canadians nationwide and found that 30% of respondents feel that buying a home is more stressful than saving for retirement.
And saving for a downpayment is a real struggle for many with 38% of those who said they plan to buy a home in the near future having saved just $5,000 towards their down payment.
Saving is not the biggest challenge though, with 42% of respondents citing rising home prices as the top obstacle for purchasing a property. However, this was down from the 54% in a similar survey in 2017.
Even the OSFI mortgage stress test which was introduced at the start of 2018 has not dampened the will of consumers to buy a home. Four in ten said it will have no impact on their intention to buy.
Just 5% said that foreign buyers taxes have made a difference to home affordability, but 36% support taxes on short-term rentals.
With federal cannabis legislation expected, and CREA calling for rules on home-growing, 47% of respondents said they would be less keen to buy a property where legal amounts of pot had been grown.
