Most investors targeting Canada’s largest condo markets plan to hold onto their units for at least five years, according to a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) survey released Friday (May 22).
The condominium owners survey (COS) surveyed 42,191 households in Vancouver and Toronto and determined that out of the respondents that own a condo, 83.8% live in it as a primary residence while the remaining 16.2% own a secondary condo unit. The CMHC refers to the latter group as COS investors and combined the results from Toronto and Vancouver to increase statistical probability.
"Our results show that most COS investors are in the market for the long term and expect to keep their last purchased secondary unit for more than five years," Robyn Adamache, CMHC principal market analyst for Vancouver, said in a statement.
"Many have had their last unit for six years or longer.”
The 2014 survey results determined 52.6% of COS investors plan to hold their secondary units for more than five years, while 54.9% expect to see an increase in value.
In terms of the five-year plan, the figure sank from the 58.4% who planned on holding the condo in the 2013 survey results. However, that year fewer respondents (47.9%) expected values of the secondary units to rise.
The survey reported 53.9% of COS investors purchased their secondary units for rental income while just 9.6% of them held three or more units.
"The results illustrate that most COS investors own few units. In fact, nearly three-quarters of COS investors own only one secondary unit, while 10% own three or more secondary units," Dana Senagama, CMHC principal market analyst for Toronto, said in a statement.
"And 90% don't anticipate purchasing more units within the next year."
