Home is where their heart is

Vancouverites are head-over-heels for homes.

Lower Mainland residents believe more fervently in the idea of home ownership than do people in four other Canadian centres, a survey released yesterday said.

Vancouver-area residents scored highest in six categories gauging Canadians' attachment to owning a home, according to the survey by Genworth Financial Canada.

Genworth surveyed 2,521 potential homebuyers, current homeowners and renters in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.

Eighty-eight per cent of Vancouver residents say owning a home makes them feel more personally fulfilled, compared with the national average of 80 per cent.

And 87 per cent of Vancouver respondents feel home ownership offers a greater sense of well-being and security, compared with 84 per cent nationally, the survey found.

The survey suggests that people's dreams of home ownership are matched by the fulfilment they experience when they do own, said Michael Haan, a social policy professor at the University of Alberta.

"While there's a greater sense of financial security in owning, the survey also is very clear that most people believe the value of owning goes far beyond the financial worth of a home," Haan said.

"There is a greater sense of emotional well-being, even though most homeowners recognize that more work is required versus renting." In other findings: - Eighty-nine per cent of Vancouverites feel the value of owning a home goes beyond its mere financial worth, compared with 84 per cent nationally; - Ninety per cent of Vancouverites and Calgarians say they feel more financially secure owning their own home than they do renting, compared with a national average of 88 per cent; - Eighty-eight per cent of Vancouverites would rather own than rent, even though home ownership may mean more work and effort, compared with a national average of 85 per cent; - Eighty-seven per cent of Vancouverites consider a house or condo they own more of a home than a house or apartment they rent, compared with 80 per cent nationally.

(prepared by Paul Luke/Vancouver Province)