14 hours Ago By Joel Schlesinger, for the Calgary Herald
Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. The “Canadian dream” persists among most homebuyers with single-family detached homes remaining their housing type of choice, a new survey has found.
That’s despite rising affordability challenges, says Benjy Katchen, chief executive officer of Wahi, a digital real estate brokerage, which recently published its annual buyer preference survey. “Single-family homes with a backyard are the most sought-after housing type among Canadians,” he adds. “Indeed, it remains the Canadian dream.
” The poll of more than 1,500 Canadians reveals that 61 per cent of respondents’ preferred housing type is a single-family home, followed by condo apartments at 24 per cent. As well, four per cent of respondents indicate “other options” as their preference, with 11 per cent citing they aren’t sure what they prefer. The poll also looked at features Canadians wanted most.
The top feature among those preferring a single-family home is a backyard at 76 per cent. Second is a renovated kitchen and bathroom at 59 per cent, and a finished basement ranks third at 42 per cent. For condo apartments, 68 per cent indicate a renovated kitchen and bathroom as the top features, followed by a parking garage at 53 per cent, and visitor parking at 36 per cent.
Yet affordability continues to be where the Canadian dream meets reality, with 44 per cent citing rising prices and rent as barriers. “And sometimes, there is a mismatch between the dream and reality,” Katchen says. Indeed, the dream can seem out of reach in Canada’s largest cities.
The average price of a single-family detached home in Vancouver, for example, was more than $2 million at the end of February. By comparison, the average price of a single-family detached home in Calgary in late March was about $848,000, Calgary Real Estate Board statistics show. That said, the price here has risen about 20 per cent over the past two years when in March 2023, the average price was about $706,000.
What’s more, the price increase is even more substantial over a longer timespan. Since March 2019, for instance, the average price for a single-family home has grown more than 63 per cent. All told, the Canadian dream is more challenging than ever in Calgary.
Yet it remains the goal for many first-time buyers, says Calgary realtor Richard Fleming with Re/Max Mountain View. “A majority’s first preference is a single-family home with a yard,” he adds. And single-family homes still do account for the most resales in Calgary.
In February, about 45 per cent of all resales were single-family homes, CREB statistics show. Apartment was the next most active type in the market, making up about 17 per cent of all resales..
