At the beginning of 2021, 32% of Canadian workers aged 15 to 69 worked the majority of their hours from home.
In 2016, that number was only 4%, according to Stats Canada.
Though some believe that the changes to our working styles are permanent, it’s likely that we’ll see somewhat of a return to work for many employees if COVID-19 cases fall and remain relatively low.
There are many ways the real estate market could react to more and more Canadians returning to work.
Here’s a look at some of the potential changes we could see take place over the coming months and years.
1. Renters could return to city centres
The return to work in major city centres is likely to draw more renters back to downtowns across the country. At REW.ca, B.C.’s largest home search platform, search data reveals that rental searches in the City of Vancouver were up 40% month over month in July 2021, and up 35% in Toronto. These search habits could indicate that more renters will return to major cities this fall.
Few major North American cities have built more apartment units per capita in the last decade than in Canada’s three largest metropolitan areas, and with softening rental markets, inventory shouldn’t be a problem.
Another potential situation that could be unfolding is the return of more renters to areas near post-secondary institutions. Remote learning will continue to be the preferred method of education across the country for the remainder of the year, but should the return to the office prove to be successful this fall, the return to school could be next.
2. More renters lead to more investors
As renters return to city centres, expect investors to follow. Single-family detached home inventory is scarce, but investors currently have more options in the Canadian condo market.
Greater Vancouver condo prices pulled back slightly in July 2021, and are currently flat from where they were three years ago. With the Canadian market finally cooling after a peak in March 2021, sales of condos have consumed a rising share of the market.
More renters, more immigration, low interest rates and flat condo prices should continue to push investors off of the sidelines and into the resale market in several major Canadian cities. We’re already seeing investors jump into new developments at a high rate, as pre-builds have become an attractive option for those looking to secure today’s interest rates, among other reasons.
3. Work flexibility and the potential impact of semi-remote work
Though the inventory for detached homes and townhouses may be scarce, that doesn’t mean that the preference trends we’ve seen from buyers will drastically change with a semi-return to work.
For some, commuting two days per week will make a move to the suburbs more desirable, especially if their employer announces that a flex schedule will become permanent for their position. Expect people in this situation to continue to weigh the options of a move outside the city, where a down payment goes further per square foot than it would in a city centre.
With many workers returning to the office for just a few days a week to start, there will also be a continued interest in renters and buyers needing spaces with home offices. This is a change that new developers and those tackling renovations have paid close attention to, so expect the demand for home offices to be one of the trends brought on by the pandemic that is here to stay.
Whether it comes quickly or slowly, the return to work will no doubt have a significant impact on Canada’s real estate landscape for years to come. Renters, buyers, sellers, and investors will watch and adjust to the trends in kind, with changes in housing preferences likely to continue throughout the near future.
Justin Kerby is a columnist for REW.ca, Canada’s premier home search platform.
TORONTO – One expert predicts Ottawa‘s changes to mortgage rules will help spur demand among potential homebuyers but says policies aimed at driving new supply are needed to address the “core issues” facing the market.
The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal calls it a “significant” move likely to accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.
However, he says in a note that policymakers should aim to “prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing” through policies geared toward the supply side.
Tal says the main issue is the lack of supply available to respond to Canada’s rapidly increasing population, particularly in major cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
