Few Canadians Are Being Forced to Sell Their Homes: Wahi Survey

Wahi’s 2024 Home Seller Intentions Survey provides insights into why Canadians are planning to put their homes on the market in the coming years.

By Josh Sherman | 3 minute read

Real estate is said to be all about location, location, location, but two of the top three reasons Canadians cited for selling came down to size, according to Wahi’s 2024 Homebuyer Intentions Survey.

Despite generationally high interest rates and seemingly nonstop headlines about soaring living costs, few Canadians are being forced to sell their homes because they can’t afford them, suggests a new Wahi survey conducted online among Canadians who are members of the Angus Reid Forum.

Wahi’s 2024 Home Seller Intentions Survey asks people across Canada whether they plan to put their homes on the market over the next several years and, if so, why? Overall, just one in 10 homeowners (11%) who say they will be selling within the coming five years are doing so at least in part because of financial strain or debt repayments, including on mortgages.

“While it’s a challenging time whenever someone is forced to sell their home, the survey results indicate that this remains relatively uncommon in the Canadian housing market compared to other reasons for selling,” says Wahi CEO Benjy Katchen. “The Bank of Canada’s recent rate cut should also provide some relief for homeowners,” he adds.

Size Matters for Canadian Home Sellers

Real estate is said to be all about location, location, location. But two of the top three reasons Canadians cited for selling came down to size. Respondents could choose multiple reasons. The responses varied greatly by age, hinting at divergent demographic trends:

• Among Canadians who expressed home-selling intentions, the leading motivation was downsizing (37%). “The fact that downsizing is a priority for so many home sellers only makes sense given Canada’s aging population,” Katchen explains, noting just 1% of downsizers were aged 18 to 34 and 30% were aged 35 to 54.  
• Of home sellers who are downsizing, the majority (69%) were aged 55 and up. 
• Overall, upsizing (25%) was tied with relocation as the second most popular reason cited for selling.  
• Some 94% of those looking to upsize are 18 to 54 years old, with only  6% of 55+ expressing these intentions.

Canadians Are Timing the Market

Once respondents identified plans to sell within five years or sooner, Wahi asked them to choose what they consider to be the most important steps to achieving their desired sale price. They were asked to rank their top three priorities from a list of seven.

• Some 23% of respondents rank waiting for the right market conditions as the most important factor for getting the best sale price, followed by renovations or repairs (16%), and finding a good REALTOR® (16%).

• Perhaps somewhat of a surprise given recent interest rates, just 15% of prospective sellers cite waiting for appealing interest rates as the most important factor.

• Much smaller shares of home sellers listed home staging (9%), seasonality (7%), and enhancing curb appeal (7%) as most important.

Sellers Seeking a Better Life 

• Of the one in four sellers who plan to list due to relocation, the most common reason behind the move is looking for a better quality of life (53%).
• Those who live in rural communities are more likely to say they are looking for a better quality of life (62%) than their urban counterparts (51%).

Methodology:

These are the findings of a survey conducted by Wahi on May 10 to 14, 2024, among a representative sample of 1,501 online Canadians who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. The survey was conducted in English and French. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/-2.53 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.