First-time homeowners expected to drive demand for lower-priced condos
First-time homebuyers are expected to stabilize the housing market and drive demand for lower-priced condominiums downtown and in urban parts of the city’s west and southeast areas over the next couple of years.
Last week, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) held a housing outlook conference in Ottawa to discuss market trends, consumer preferences and forecasts for the upcoming year. At last week's conference, one of the most popular topics centered around first-time home buyers and the effects of the recently implemented mortgage regulations.
It is believed that Canadian home buyers are becoming accustomed to the new regulations, and first-time buyers will not be pushed out of the market. Abdul Kargbo, a market analyst for the CMHC, stated that in the upcoming years, first-time buyers will most likely turn to townhouses or lower priced condominiums for affordibility.
Kargbo believes that young urban professionals (25-34 with an average household income of $79,900) will lead the home-buying trend, and that in the coming years, Ottawa's housing market will continue to be "relatively stable."