Its a buyer's real estate market

Falling home prices have a growing number of Canadians thinking about buying a home, according to a new poll done for RBC by Ipsos Reid.

The 16th annual RBC/Ipsos Reid housing poll, released Wednesday, found 27 per cent of Canadians surveyed said they would be likely to purchase a home within the next two years, although most surveyed believe housing prices will continue to drop next year. In B.C., 26 per cent said they would be likely to purchase a home within the next two years.

The number of people who reported they were likely to purchase in the next two years was up four percentage points from last year's poll, the largest gain since 2001.

"But Canadians are split on whether buying conditions will change to be more favourable within the next year," the report said, "such that it makes more sense to wait" to purchase.

The Mortgage Brokers Association of B.C. said in a news release Wednesday that signs of slowly emerging optimism are beginning to surface in the B.C. real estate market.

"MBABC members are experiencing an increase in mortgage lending activity as a direct result of lower home prices and record interest rates," MBABC president Brian Peterson said in the release. "This new trend appears to be reflecting a slow growth in consumer confidence."

Overall, some 65 per cent of Canadians said they believe the current real estate market is a "buyers' market." The "buyers' market" sentiment rose to 78 per cent in B.C., the highest level in Canada.

Ipsos Reid conducted the online survey among 2,026 respondents on behalf of RBC from Jan. 6 to 9. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

(prepared by Derrick Penner/Vancouver Sun)