For the second year in a row, a majority of local condo investors in Toronto and Vancouver reported plans to hang onto the last secondary condo unit they bought for more than five years, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) latest Condominium Owners Survey.

For the purposes of this survey, conducted in August and September, 2014, CMHC defines investors as those who own both their primary residence and at least one secondary condo unit in either the Toronto or Vancouver census metropolitan area. Of the 42,191 households surveyed, a minority of condo owners — 16.2 per cent — reported owning a primary residence and at least one secondary condo unit.

Among the survey’s other findings were:

• 72.5 per cent of investors own only one secondary condo unit;
• 52.6 per cent of investors expect to hold the last secondary condo unit they bought for more than five years;
• 54.9 per cent of investors expect the last secondary condo unit they bought to appreciate in value over the next year;
• 53.9 per cent of investors bought their last secondary condo unit for rental income; and
• 9.2 per cent of investors expect to buy additional secondary condo units in the year ahead.

The survey also showed certain differences between local investors in Toronto and Vancouver. For one, a larger share of local investors in Toronto anticipate buying additional secondary condo units in the year ahead than those in Vancouver. For another, a larger share of local investors in Toronto bought a new condo unit via a pre-sale than those in Vancouver.