2026 Canadian Real Estate Sentiment Report: Regional Data

More than 1 in 4 (27%) of Atlantic Canadians say that the main obstacle in buying a home in the next 12 months is that “other living costs are too high/unpredictable.”

More than half (54%) of Atlantic Canadians who don’t currently own a home say they cannot afford monthly mortgage payments on a home that meets their needs right now.

When it comes to the regrets of home buying, 15% of Atlantic Canadian homeowners say homeownership is more expensive than they anticipated, 20% say they can afford my mortgage, but their other costs have gotten too high and 24% say maintaining their home has been more difficult than they expected.

70% of Atlantic Canadians agree that the market is unfair to first-time buyers, 90% agree that homes are overpriced and 87% agree that homes are expensive everywhere in Canada.

4 in 10 (41%) of BC respondents (both homeowner and non-homeowner) felt that home ownership feels out of reach and 85% of BC respondents feel that homes are overpriced.

Homeownership regrets are not uncommon: 42% of Canadian homeowners expressed regret related to homeownership, with the demands of home maintenance (16%) and high non-mortgage costs (13%) being the most common. However, for BC homeowners specifically, over half (56%) had no regrets.

Feeling the pressure: When asked about the pressure to buy a home, BC respondents cited: To have a long-term investment (33%); to achieve stability (32%), and; to build wealth or financial security (30%) as the top choices, with only 4% citing their desire to keep up with peers who are buying homes as a pressure.

The report found when asked what compromises they would make to buy a home sooner, Albertans were most willing to buy a smaller home than they originally wanted (40%) and most willing to move to a different province (28%).

On a regional basis, agents fared best in Alberta, where the highest percentage of respondents had very positive (13%) or somewhat positive (35%) opinions of them, and felt that agents bring a lot of value (22%) or some value (47%) to the home buying process.