According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)’s 2015 First-Time Homebuyers Survey, new homebuyers are twice as likely to use social media to research information on buying homes, compared to other mortgage consumers.

The survey, conducted in April 2015 among 788 recent first-time homebuyers, focused on the home buying process and the technology used during that process. It also analyzed the attitudes of the potential homebuyers and their experiences with lenders and brokers.

“For many Canadians, buying their first home is the single largest purchase they have ever made,” said Nathalie Fredette, vice president, client relationship management, in a press release. “Our aim is to provide mortgage brokers, lenders and other industry professionals with valuable information and useful tools so they can better guide their clients through this major life event.”

Survey results also indicated that first-time homebuyers are not as confident as repeat homebuyers, based on possessing a lower understanding of mortgage options, making them more likely to find the mortgage process difficult. They were also less certain of what to do if they faced financial trouble.

Over 70 per cent of first-time homebuyers were given advice on mortgage rates, terms, affordability and repayment strategies by their brokers and lenders. This helped increase first-time homebuyers’ level of understanding of their options and increased their satisfaction with their brokers and lenders by over 80 per cent.

“CMHC’s survey results reiterate the central role that mortgage professionals play in providing first-time homebuyers with the information they need to manage their money and debt wisely,” said Jane Rooney, Canada’s financial literacy leader, in a press release. “The more we understand the financial literacy needs of Canadians, the better we can be at providing the right information at the right time to help them build their financial knowledge, skills and confidence.”