19% of recent homebuyers own multiple properties: Survey

A new survey suggests nearly one-in-five homebuyers during the pandemic are multi-property owners, with the remaining number evenly split between first-time homebuyers and those upgrading or downsizing to a new home.

A new survey suggests nearly one-in-five homebuyers during the pandemic are multi-property owners, with the remaining number evenly split between first-time homebuyers and those upgrading or downsizing to a new home. 

That’s according to the latest RATESDOTCA and BNN Bloomberg survey, which was conducted online from Jan. 7-9 among 1,547 respondents, and which sought to understand who has been buying homes during the pandemic and how they’re funding their down payments.  

Nine per cent of those respondents said they purchased a home in the last 18 months. The bulk of the survey focused on those individuals, and found that 40 per cent of them said they were first-time homebuyers and that the property they were purchasing is their primary residence. Those buyers were overwhelmingly between the ages of 18-34 (65 per cent).

Another 39 per cent said they already owned one property and were purchasing another one. Finally, 19 per cent said they owned multiple properties, while two per cent preferred not to answer. 

The most popular way to fund a down payment was from personal savings, with 47 per cent of respondents doing so. Another 24 per cent said they funded the purchase from the sale of another property, while 14 per cent said they leveraged equity from an existing property.  

Affordability has been a major challenge for homebuyers in Canada — especially during the pandemic. A survey from Royal LePage earlier this month found that the average price of a Canadian home increased 17.1 per cent to $779,000 in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to the previous year.