Not all young Canadians have given up buying a home. Here’s why

The majority of young Canadians still feel homeownership is an achievable goal, according to new polling released Tuesday from Royal LePage.

Young Canadians are still striving to enter the housing market even as affordability barriers persist, a new report from Royal LePage suggests.

The survey released Tuesday gauged how young Canadians — broadly including those born from 1986 to 2006 — feel about their homeownership prospects.

A little over half (54 per cent) of those in that age group said they believe homeownership is an achievable goal. One in five, however, said they don’t think it’s in the cards for them.

Despite recent interest rate cuts from the Bank of Canada, borrowing costs are still relatively high in Canada. That’s been an obstacle for would-be buyers hoping to qualify for a mortgage to break into the housing market, particularly as home prices have held firm in many parts of the country.

More than half (52 per cent) of those surveyed said they don’t have enough saved for a down payment and probably never will.

The Royal LePage report is based on Hill & Knowlton polling via Leger in late July, just before and after the Bank of Canada’s second interest rate cut of the cycle. The findings align closely with Ipsos polling conducted exclusively for Global News after the initial cut in June, which found 45 per cent of respondents said that they won’t be able to afford a home no matter how much interest rates drop.

But the Royal LePage report shows that despite the seemingly daunting task, many Canadians are still taking steps to hit that goal.

Some 45 per cent of respondents said they’re saving diligently and feel they’ll have enough put aside in the near future to afford a home. And 31 per cent said they have confidence in their career trajectory giving them enough of an income boost in the years ahead to make the purchase.