{"id":28667,"date":"2026-10-26T11:11:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T18:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.roryc.ca\/blog\/?p=28667"},"modified":"2026-10-26T11:40:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T18:40:24","slug":"first-time-buyers-are-the-big-winners-in-2026-housing-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.roryc.ca\/blog\/2026\/10\/first-time-buyers-are-the-big-winners-in-2026-housing-market\/","title":{"rendered":"First-Time Buyers are The Big Winners in 2026 Housing Market"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Economic headwinds are weighing on the outlook for Canada\u2019s housing market, pushing plenty of potential homebuyers to the sidelines and exerting continued downward pressure on prices.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In most markets, that\u2019s bad news for anybody hoping to sell their home in the months ahead, likely reducing the number of prospective bidders for their property and keeping their expectations for sale price in check.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">But the continued slide in prices represents good news for homebuyers determined to push ahead with their purchase \u2013 especially those buying for the first time.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">During the COVID-19 pandemic, new entrants to the market faced a frustrating battle to get their foot in the door. Ultra-low interest rates and pent-up savings sparked a homebuying frenzy between 2020 and 2022 marked by intense bidding wars and offers soaring well above list prices.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>New Environment A Gamechanger for Some Hopeful Buyers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Even though rates are on the rise, a much cooler market \u2013 and lower prices in many cases compared with four to six years ago \u2013 have suddenly changed the outlook for Canadians who had saved for their downpayment but were unable to compete with multiple offers on the properties they wanted.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Sarita Free, a mortgage agent with Mortgage Powered Financial Group based in Norfolk County, Ontario, told Canadian Mortgage Professional that 2025 and this year had been a gamechanger for first-time buyers hoping to enter the market in her area.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The milder homebuying environment and programs like an extended 30-year mortgage amortization option have seen the outlook brighten considerably for younger Canadians who were previously frozen out, according to Free.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">That\u2019s not to say first-time buyers are suddenly streaming into the market. Plenty still say waiting is the right option, especially with the sluggish current pace of activity unlikely to pick up anytime soon. But Free said those who were previously determined to buy, but couldn\u2019t, are now able to push ahead.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cA lot of my clients are first-time homebuyers and they\u2019ve finally been able to break in,\u201d she said. \u201cThis year, I\u2019m finding that they\u2019re finally able to get into the market. With the 30-year amortization that we can now go to, I find a lot of my buyers that have been on the sidelines are finally able to \u2026.. stay in their hometown where they\u2019ve grown up, and not have to go elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">That\u2019s a stark difference, she added, from the dispiriting environment of the pandemic. \u201cA couple of years ago when there were multiple offers and bidding wars, it was so disheartening to have these conversations with people whose families have been in our counties for decades, and them not being able to break into the market,\u201d she said. \u201cSo this year has been really heartwarming, and last year too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>How Long will Home Affordability Improvements Last?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Across Canada, home affordability improved in 10 of 13 major markets in August, according to Ratehub.ca\u2019s latest Home Affordability Report, meaning buyers in those cities needed less income to qualify for a mortgage than the previous month.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">But Ratehub\u2019s vice president of mortgages Jamie David suggested that the affordability window for hopeful buyers may be closing. Recent rate jumps, she said, \u201cshow how important it is to secure a rate hold amid the current market volatility.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Expectations of Bank of Canada interest rate hikes have risen in recent weeks while bond market volatility has pushed five-year Government of Canada bond yields \u2013 which heavily influence fixed mortgage rates \u2013 higher.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">That suggests borrowing costs could be about to creep upwards, even if prices remain stagnant or dip slightly.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">For now, though, buyers are faced with a promising environment in many markets \u2013 and they have room to negotiate, too, compared with years gone by.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI don\u2019t see bidding wars. And when [sellers] do that little trick where realtors price a house really low [to entice more offers], that does not fly where I\u2019m from,\u201d Free said. \u201cThey\u2019ve got a little bit of time to weigh up their offer and see the property, which is great.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cConditions of finance are back in. Home inspections, everything, you name it. Water testing. We have price reductions. Upgrade the electrical ..\u2026 a new water tank. It\u2019s such a good outlook for first-time buyers, which is great.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mpamag.com\/ca\/mortgage-industry\/industry-trends\/the-big-winners-in-canadas-2026-housing-market-first-time-buyers\/592663\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Big Winners in Canada&#8217;s 2026 Housing Market? First-Time Buyers<\/a> by Fergal McAlinden | CMP Canadian Mortgage Professional<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Economic headwinds are weighing on the outlook for Canada\u2019s housing market, pushing plenty of potential homebuyers to the sidelines and exerting continued downward pressure on prices. In most markets, that\u2019s &hellip; [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.roryc.ca\/blog\/2026\/10\/first-time-buyers-are-the-big-winners-in-2026-housing-market\/\">read more<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,9,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homeselling-homebuying","category-mortgage","category-real-estate"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>First-Time Buyers are The Big Winners in 2026 Housing Market &#8226; Rory C Real Estate | Oakwyn Realty<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.roryc.ca\/blog\/2026\/10\/first-time-buyers-are-the-big-winners-in-2026-housing-market\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"First-Time Buyers are The Big Winners in 2026 Housing Market &#8226; Rory C Real Estate | Oakwyn Realty\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Economic headwinds are weighing on the outlook for Canada\u2019s housing market, pushing plenty of potential homebuyers to the sidelines and exerting continued downward pressure on prices. 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