Report released by Royal LePage says about 40 per cent of renters are choosing to wait for property prices to fall further, compared with 30 per cent in 2024.COLE BURSTON/The Canadian Press
Canadian renters are waiting for housing prices to drop before jumping into the market, according to a new report, reflecting optimism over a trend of falling prices.
As renters inked new leases this year, 28 per cent said they considered buying property rather than renting, the 2025 Canadian Renters Report says. This is nearly the same as last year, when 29 per cent of respondents said they considered buying a home.
The major difference, according to the report, released by Royal LePage on Thursday, is that about 40 per cent of renters across Canada reported they are choosing to wait for property prices to fall further, compared with 30 per cent in 2024.
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The survey, conducted by Burson on Royal LePage’s behalf, heard from 1,854 adult Canadian renters between June 2 and 9 using the Leger Opinion online panel survey.
Phil Soper, president and chief executive of Royal LePage, believes that trend is being driven by optimism over house prices, which have dropped since peaking in 2022.
“It’s really rare to see home prices in our biggest cities stay as flat as they have, or even give up some value for as long as they have,” Mr. Soper said.
For those looking to buy, Mr. Soper said he would not bet on prices improving further.
The Canadian Real Estate Association Housing Price Index showed national housing prices had dropped by 3.5 per cent in May compared with the year prior.
Renters in Saskatchewan and Manitoba are the most hesitant to shift from the rental market to home ownership, with 48 per cent reporting they are choosing to wait for market prices to drop.
While 44 per cent of renters from the two provinces said they were considering buying property in 2024, that ratio has since dropped to 28 per cent.
“There’s definitely uncertainty, I think in the economy, tariff implications,” said Anthony Bertrand, a realtor in Winnipeg with Royal LePage.
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Mr. Bertrand and Mr. Soper said that national concern about housing costs can also lead potential buyers to put away their pocketbooks, regardless of region.
And while the cost of living is generally lower in the Prairies, the region’s major markets have seen an increase in home prices year-over-year.
Saskatchewan home prices were up 8.6 per cent in May from the previous year, according to the CREA’s Home-Price Index, tied for second with Newfoundland and Labrador. Quebec topped the list at 9.8 per cent.
The real estate association did not have publicly available Home-Price Index data for Manitoba as a whole, but it reports that Winnipeg housing prices have risen 8.2 per cent over the same time period.
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The survey also asked renters to consider whether they could afford to own a home.
In last year’s Canadian Renters Report, 41 per cent of Canadian renters who responded to the survey said they did not have a sufficient down payment for a home, and 20 per cent said they could not qualify for a mortgage or financing.
Those questions were combined in this year’s survey, with 26 per cent of renters saying they could not afford a down payment or financing.
People in the rental market are, for the most part, looking to buy property in the future, typically in the next two to five years.
For those who are not, the main reason is affordability. More than half of renters who said they were not buying homes stated that their desired neighbourhood was unaffordable.
About 40 per cent of respondents said renting is more affordable, while the same percentage said they don’t want the responsibilities of maintaining a property.