Understanding the behaviours and attitudes of today’s mortgage consumer

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(Visual: Government of Canada logo, and CMHC logo fade in together. A series of images featuring housing construction across Canada.)

 (Visual: Two people are shown in conversation. They sit across from one another at a boardroom table. The two individuals are Joelle Hamilton, Communications & Marketing, CMHC, and Sabrina Guay, Specialist, Training, CMHC.)

00:00:06

JOELLE: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to our podcast. Back in January, we surveyed almost 4,000 Canadians who recently bought a home, renewed or refinanced their mortgages, and we've done this since 1999 to find out how they feel about the home buying process and who they turn to for help.

I'm Joelle Hamilton, your host for today's podcast, and I'm joined by Sabrina Guay, who's been with CMHC since 2017. Oddly enough, we joined the same year, so we have our, like our similar work anniversary. So, welcome Sabrina, and thank you so much for agreeing to sit down with us and talk to us today. And I have one really important question, probably the most important question I'm going to ask you: Are you ready to dive into the 2024 Mortgage Consumer Survey findings?

00:00:52

SABRINA: Totally. I'm so excited to be here.

00:00:55

JOELLE:  Perfect. First, why don't you start by telling us a little bit about yourself?

00:01:00

SABRINA: Sure. So, I'm a training specialist with CMHCs Commercial Mortgage Loan Insurance Division. I break down mortgage loan insurance, the benefits, the features, and create training materials for our team, client-facing team, who support mortgage professionals.

00:01:17

JOELLE: And I'm curious to know, what are — like what feedback are you getting from your clients about the value of the Mortgage Consumer Survey specifically?

00:01:28

SABRINA: Yeah, so the Mortgage Consumer Survey helps mortgage professionals better understand the behaviors, the attitudes, the expectations that mortgage consumers have when they go through either a home purchase, a refinance, or a renewal. And it explores really in detail what's driving their home buying decisions. And the results can help them identify some opportunities on how they can best serve their clients, what some niches, markets that they might be able to tap into and provides them an opportunity to really meet the unique needs of all their clients.

00:02:10

JOELLE: So based on the Survey, 15 percent of Canadians contracted a mortgage in the last 18 months. What I'm curious to learn, is what is their demographic profile? Who are they?

00:02:25

SABRINA: So, in our survey, 62 percent of our respondents were renewers; 18 percent were homebuyers; and 19 percent were refinancers.

And when we look at the demographic of a mortgage consumer, almost half are aged between 35 and 54, about 47%. The majority have a post-secondary education, so 43 percent have graduated from university, or 40 percent have attended college. And from a marital status perspective, 56 percent are married, and 17 percent are common law, and 17 percent are actually single as well.

00:03:06

JOELLE: In terms of choice of what they bought, did they buy single detached? Did they go the multi-unit route?

00:03:14

SABRINA: Yeah, so the type of dwelling that people will buy really varies based on the different markets in Canada. If you're buying in Toronto or Vancouver, most likely you're gonna get into a condo or a townhouse or something of the sort, just from the land perspective. But in general, Canadians have a preference for single detached homes. Sixty-eight percent mentioned that they had a single detached home when they were either buying, renewing or refinancing. Eleven percent purchased condos, and nine percent were for semi-detached, and nine percent for row houses, which we often call townhouses.

00:03:54

JOELLE: How many of those buyers were first time home buyers?

00:03:57

SABRINA: Good question. We're always interested in first time home buyers. So, about 55 percent of our respondents were first time homebuyers this year, and 73 percent were between the ages of 25 and 34.

00:04:10

JOELLE: And I noticed there's something new to the 2024 survey about rental properties. What percentage of the mortgages that were secured in the last 18 months were for rental properties, and what type of rental properties are they?

00:04:26

SABRINA: Yeah, so this is new, like you mentioned, for this year. We wanted to get a little bit of a perspective into small investors, in other words. So, 23 percent of those that either purchased, refinanced, or renewed in 2024 we're for small rentals; one-to-four-unit rental properties.

00:04:47

JOELLE: Now I want to talk about not just the demographics of who bought homes, but more along the lines of the home buying process. So, we all know that it's been increasingly difficult to purchase a home in Canada with the rise in interest rates that we've seen in recent years. I'm curious to know why buyers said they decided to buy in 2023.

00:05:12

SABRINA: Mm-hmm. So, the reasons for buying — the top reasons for buying were consistent. Canadians and people living in Canada generally feel that buying a home is a safe and a good investment, secure investment for the long term. That's the number one reason for buying. And next is also mostly driven by changes in their life situation. So, needing to upsize the home because your family is growing or your family dynamic is changing is the main reasons for buying. So safe investment and my family.

00:05:47

JOELLE: Changes in circumstances.

00:05:49

SABRINA: Changes in circumstances, exactly.

00:05:50

JOELLE: So, before buyers — before they bought their home, what was their living situation?

00:05:56

SABRINA: So that's an interesting question, because we're always curious. Okay, so you've now decided to buy. Seventy-one percent of first-time homebuyers are renting, and typically for about one to four years prior to buying. And then the other 28 percent were living with family.

00:06:11

JOELLE: And what were the top-down payment sources? We've got to talk about down payment sources if we're talking about buying a home.

00:06:17

SABRINA: Yeah, so the down payment, it's interesting because you always think, you know, down payment, you got to save up and… but there are many different forms of down payment. Naturally, the big — the largest component of the down payment is savings, and it was savings outside of an RRSP. Forty-seven percent were outside of an RRSP, and then 22 percent were savings within an RRSP. But what was interesting, is 30 percent of those purchasing had received a gift from either a family member or a friend to purchase their home.

00:06:50

JOELLE: And of those that got a gift, would they have been able to purchase the home if they hadn't gotten that gift?

00:06:54

SABRINA: Good question. Thirty-two percent told us that no, they wouldn't have been able to purchase a home that meets their needs. They might have been able to purchase, but not necessarily a home that meets their needs. And we dug a little bit deeper and we asked them, okay, how much was the gift? What's the average gift amount? And it varies, obviously across the country, because we have some very, you know, variances in house prices, but the average across the board was $77,000 as being the gift, and the amounts were higher in the BC and Ontario regions.

00:07:30

JOELLE: And how long on average did it take for buyers, like first time buyers, to save for their down payment? And I know this is like a new question to the 2024 survey, which is why I'm asking this.

00:07:44

SABRINA: And so, again, it varies a little bit person-to-person, right? On average, 4.2 years to save up for you down payment. But what we found interesting when we dug into the data, was that we had a lot of respondents, it was 18 percent, had said that they purchased within a year.

Thirty-nine percent mentioned that it on average took one to five years. And there's still a good amount of people that took over six years, which is about 17%. So, one in five will take over six years to save up for their down payment.

00:08:15

JOELLE: So we all know that buying your first home can be very stressful. And when it comes to the process and the purchase price, what are homebuyers most worried or concerned about?

00:08:30

SABRINA: Buying a house is probably one of the biggest expenses you will — the biggest purchases you'll ever do in your lifetime. So, it's no doubt that you'll have some concerns, some uncertainties about the whole house buying process. Sixty-two percent were most worried about paying too much for their home, right? Because if you pay too much, that touches on your investment, right, and it also impacts your budget. If you pay more, you're paying more month-to-month.

Interest rates was next. Fifty-three percent were worried about interest rates, if interest rates climb, and how would that impact the affordability, their qualification and their mortgage payments. And the others, 48 percent were worried about unforeseen costs about home ownership. Either their closing costs or the ongoing costs of maintaining their home.

00:09:20

JOELLE: So, I remember when I bought my first home in 2021, there's always that debate: What do you choose? Do you choose a fixed rate, a variable rate? And if so, like either of those choices, how long do you lock yourself into either the fixed or the variable? Can you dive into the trends that we've seen in the survey?

00:09:45

SABRINA: Yeah. That's always a big question that mortgage professionals get asked by their clients. Should I go fixed? Should I go variable? And especially in this rate environment where the rates have gone up so much in the last few years, we have seen 69 percent of our respondents choose a fixed rate over a variable rate, which isn't too much of a surprise. Like I said, the rates have been going up, so if you went variable, your rate would have gone up quite a bit over the last few years. And this is an increase of about 3 percent over 2023. The rates were also creeping up last year. So, people were opting for that fixed rate so they could lock in before they go up higher.

What's interesting is 43 percent of respondents chose a five-year term, which is down 10 percent over the previous year. So, more people are now choosing a shorter term rather than a longer five-year term because there is some anticipation that maybe the rates might plateau or drop over the next few years. So, they're choosing shorter terms, locked-in terms, shorter terms, and hoping for that when the renewal comes, the rates are a little bit lower and then they can make a new decision going forward.

00:11:01

JOELLE: And I'm hoping you can touch on what is the key role of mortgage lenders and brokers? Like what key role do they play in helping consumers secure the best mortgages for their needs?

00:11:14

SABRINA: Mortgage professionals play a key role in the home buying process, in refinancing and renewing mortgages, because they are the experts, right? They are knowledgeable about the industry, about interest rates, about different offers. There are different features for mortgages that can meet the different needs of Canadians and people living in Canada, and they can tailor a mortgage solution based on your individual needs. And they have access to all the tools and all the publications and support. So, they play a vital role in providing advice and making sure that consumers are getting the best deal that they can.

00:11:54

JOELLE: So, I know the First Home Savings Account was introduced in April of last year, and I'm wondering how that changed the landscape for first time home buyers.

00:12:06

SABRINA: Yeah. So, I was excited to add this in the survey this year because it's a brand-new account, and we talked about different ways of saving up for your down payment. So, we were very surprised to see that 71 percent of our respondents were aware of the First Home Savings Account, which is quite high for, you know, it's been in existence less than a year. And 31% of our respondents participated in the program when they purchased their home. So that was very exciting to see that there's quite a bit of uptake into the new program.

00:12:36

JOELLE: And there's a growing trend towards energy efficiency and housing. What incentives or programs are available to support this movement?

00:12:45

SABRINA: Yeah, with the rise in costs of everything, I think everybody is looking to see, okay, how can I be more efficient? How can I save money? And energy efficiency is definitely a great one where Canadians and people living in Canada can make a difference.

Even CMHC does have programs in place to help make it more affordable to buy a home that is energy efficient, or to make energy efficiency renovations. And by doing so, the homeowner benefits from reduced energy costs, and we've even seen that 93 percent of them are satisfied with their renovations, and 68 percent saw savings in their energy bills.

00:13:29

JOELLE: So, it's worth it.

00:13:30

SABRINA: Oh, it's great.

00:13:13

JOELLE: Okay. And I know this is the second year we're tracking energy efficiency renovations, and according to the survey — I'm going to read, because if I don't read this, I'm definitely going to get my facts wrong — 57 percent of homebuyers consider an energy efficient home as an important factor in their buying decision. And 51 percent said that they bought a home last year that wasn't energy efficient. Can you give us a little more detail about this this growing trend?

00:14:01

SABRINA: Yeah. So, in the survey, we did a deeper dive into energy efficiency because, like you mentioned, people are interested in purchasing more energy efficient homes. But the reality is, Canada has an older housing stock. So, we did a deeper dive, we found that on average homeowners would spend approximately $13,000, give or take $500, on energy efficiency improvements. Most of them were changing things like LED lighting, their windows, their doors, and upgrading their insulation, even installing heat pumps and HVAC systems. Interestingly, 13 percent of our respondents had installed solar panels.

00:14:44

JOELLE: Interesting!

00:14:45

SABRINA: Yeah. It's a trend that's becoming a little bit more popular. Even in Halifax, where I'm from, we see more and more of them showing up on people's roofs. And I think the biggest hurdle around energy efficiency is the cost, right? It costs a little bit of money to make these types of renovations. It's an investment. Many of them are financing these costs through either their savings, 55 percent of them, and -- or credit facilities like home equity lines of credits, loans or lines of credits, which is important to mention, because you can include some of these costs into your mortgage. Not all mortgage consumers were aware that they could do that. Only 62 percent were aware that they can use their mortgage to get some funds out in order to make these improvements.

So, I think the most important thing to mention about the energy efficiency is that 93 percent of consumers were satisfied with their energy efficiency improvements, and 63% — yes, 63 percent — saw savings in their energy bills. And I think that's the whole point is, okay, let's make things more efficient. Let's save some money and let's be good for the environment.

00:15:58

JOELLE: I'm so glad I'm not the only one who glances down to make sure I'm saying the right stuff.

This is — it's a big — it's a big report. It's a very comprehensive survey. We only dove into a really small percentage of it, but we've done so in a very short amount of time. Now, I want to dive into more forward-looking advice. What strategies can mortgage professionals employ to better meet the evolving needs of today's consumers?

00:16:27

SABRINA: Yeah. That's important. That's an important question, because it's important for mortgage professionals to understand their market, whether it's the whole Canadian market or the regional market that they're operating in; understand the demographics of your clients. How do they want to be contacted? What type of information are they looking for? How are you reaching out to them? As well as always making sure that you stay up to date with the most relevant information.

So, in our survey, we like to share these stats in big formats to our mortgage professionals so they can use the information from our survey to identify those opportunities that that could help their business.

00:17:13

JOELLE: Okay. So, I feel like we covered a lot today — I mentioned this already — this is a very big report. I want to say thank you, Sabrina, for agreeing to sit down with me today and go through some key findings of the Mortgage Consumer Survey.

And thank you to our viewers today. If you're looking for a link to the full report, you'll find it in the description below.

Let us know what you thought of today's discussion. Leave a comment on this video, and don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that matter here on our podcast. Until next time.

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(Visual: The Government of Canada logo and the CMHC logo appear together. All text and logos fade to white.)