More Albertans worried about being priced out of market

A majority of Albertans are worried about rising home prices and possibly being priced out of the market, a new survey has found.

RBC'S Spring Housing Poll found 65 per cent of Albertans surveyed indicated they were worried about being priced out of the market in the next decade.

That's slightly higher than the national average of 62 per cent.

“There is a growing segment of the population where this dream of home ownership is starting to fade, and a good portion are giving up on ever buying a home,” says Amit Sahasrabudhe, vice-president of home equity financing at RBC.

The survey revealed that, among non-homeowners under age 40 across Western Canada, more than four in 10 had given up on home ownership entirely.

The poll also found many surveyed felt prices would continue to rise in the near-term while a significant number noted they plan to buy sooner rather than later. Among Albertans, one in three indicated they would likely make a home purchase in the next 24 months, with almost one in two convinced housing prices would only rise in the immediate future.

Sahasrabudhe says the findings point to an element of FOMO — fear of missing out — among Canadians when it comes to home ownership. Still, he notes Albertans are less concerned about rising home values than most Canadians. Nationally, 61 per cent indicated home prices would only increase in the near-term.

When asked if the market currently favoured sellers, 54 per cent of Canadians indicated it did, but that figure plummeted to 13 per cent among surveyed Albertans.