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Survey finds Montrealers desire green housing

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

A vast survey on residential real estate in Québec has been released from the Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ, the Société d’habitation du Québec, the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB) and the Service de l’habitation de la Ville de Montréal.

The web-based survey, conducted by Léger in the fall, polled 6,755 people on their home buying and selling intentions in the next five years. A similar study was conducted in 2021. The 2022 edition was designed to gauge whether the pandemic is having a lasting impact on consumers’ housing choices and to find out to what extent environmental factors play into these choices.

Green housing

Fifty-nine per cent of homeowners and future buyers in the Montreal CMA would be willing to pay a premium for an environmentally friendly home. This is higher than the provincial average.

Although this premium should be associated with savings or greater resale value, the Montréal CMA has the lowest percentage of people who would refuse to pay such a premium (33 per cent compared to 36 per cent for the province as a whole).

Only 34 per cent of buyers in the Greater Montréal Area feel they have enough information to assess the environmental impact of a property. The Montréal CMA is also where the largest proportion of homeowners and future buyers would like to see standardized environmental assessment criteria for housing.

Enthusiasm for green housing is slightly lower among renters in the CMA, with 56 per cent willing to pay a premium for green housing. Only 28 per cent say they have enough information to assess a building’s sustainability.

Energy performance

Both owners and renters rank energy efficiency as the top measure of a home’s sustainability. Owners then look at the quality of the materials and whether the location reduces the need for car travel. For renters, the second most important factor is a location that facilitates active transportation, followed by material quality.

Noise pollution

This year’s survey added soundproofing as a selection criterion for apartments and condominiums. This new criterion topped the list of desirable features for both condos and apartments. Limiting noise pollution emerged as a major concern for those living in residential buildings.

Intentions to buy a home remain unchanged

This year, only 24 per cent of households plan to buy a property in the next five years. However, despite the uncertainties and the increase in interest rates, 13 per cent plan to buy a property in the next two years, the same level as in 2021.

When asked why they don’t plan to buy, unlike the older cohort, the youngest age group cites financial inability. The preference would be for urban centres if prices were more affordable, rising from 24 per cent in 2021 to 28 per cent in 2022.

“The rapid increase in prices over the past three years in the Montréal CMA and the sudden rise in interest rates in 2022 have had a negative impact on the buying intentions of younger buyers,” said Charles Brant, director of the QPAREB’s market analysis department. “However, the proportion of households that plans to purchase a property in the next two years remains stable.”

“People have adjusted their budget since the average home price in Montréal has gone up from $440,000 to $458,000 and will remain there in 2023, and assuming they’ve taken into account the increase in the cost of financing. This information indicates that Montréal households still want to buy a home.”

Renters for longer

Renters are also affected by rising prices. Twenty-eight per cent said they rented because they could not buy in their neighbourhood. This compares to 22 per cent in 2021. Due to high rents and a housing shortage, tenants in Greater Montréal are staying put, with forty-nine per cent planning on moving to another apartment within the next five years.

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