Who’s going to be next in line to purchase their first home in Canada? According to the latest RBC Homeownership Poll, it’s probably going to be a woman.
The survey showed that of all Canadians that are thinking about buying their first home within the next two years, women top the results with 49% saying that now, or the near future, is the time for them. This in comparison with only 35% of men who said that they’d be buying their first home in the next two years shows that Canada might be filled with a little more girl power at the moment.
Marcia Moffat, head of home equity financing such as home equity loans and home equity lines of credit at RBC says, “We are seeing more single women entering into the housing market, as income levels, changing demographics, and lifestyle patterns shift purchasing habits. But women are being more cautious than men, weighing cost, affordability, and job security before buying a home.”
But it’s not just women that are concerned about how affordable a home is for them. The survey also showed that men said affordability was the biggest factor taken into consideration when buying a home; 47% of both men and women said that affordability was the biggest factor for them.
The survey also showed that 25% of women and 14% of men delayed the purchase of a home because they felt they were not ready or they weren’t interested; 23% of women and 15% of men said that they didn’t have enough job security to purchase a home right now; and 22% of women and 14% of men said that they wanted to save for a larger down payment before buying a home.
But aside from just when Canadians were going to purchase their first home, the survey also asked what kind of mortgages they were likely to take on for that home – and both men and women prefer fixed rates over variable. 16% of women said that they probably wouldn’t take out a variable mortgage, while 25% of men said that they most likely would not either. However, 40% of women and 44% of men said that they would feel comfortable taking out a fixed-rate mortgage – just one more sign that Canadians are taking advantage of historically low interest rates while they can.
