Putting Off Your Home Purchase? What Waiting Does and Doesn't Fix

What the survey says

Plenty of would-be buyers have hit pause. The question worth asking is what the pause is for.

According to Canadian Mortgage Trends, which covered estate-planning platform Willful's Great Delay 2026 report on November 2, 13% of Canadians delayed buying a home this year. Among Millennials the share was 23%. The report also found that 22% of Canadians say lower interest costs would help them reach their financial goals, that 47% used savings to cover day-to-day expenses and that 40% say their financial position worsened over the past year.

A caution on the source: Willful commissioned the survey, which ran September 1–10 among 1,501 Canadian adults in the Angus Reid Forum. It captures sentiment from a company with its own interests, and we could not locate the full 2026 report to check it. Read it as a sign of the mood, not as a measurement of the market.

The trouble with waiting for a number

Many people who delay are waiting for borrowing costs to drop. The Bank of Canada's October 28 announcement raised its policy interest to 2.50%, and we covered what it means in our renewal piece. Fixed mortgage pricing follows bond yields rather than the policy setting, so the two do not always move together.

Bank of Canada research also cautions against assuming cheaper borrowing solves affordability on its own; we summarised that in cheaper borrowing won't fix affordability. Cheaper money can raise demand and prices as well as capacity. Nobody can promise which way the numbers land in twelve months.

What waiting can genuinely fix

Savings. A larger down payment lowers the amount borrowed and, below 20%, the insurance premium. See cash needed at closing.
Credit and debt. Paying down balances changes how lenders see you. See credit utilization.
Income history. A new job, a probation period or self-employment history may simply need time.
The budget. Lenders test your file at a higher qualifying figure than your actual payment. Our stress test explainer shows how.

What waiting does not fix

Time alone does not build savings, repair credit or open a registered account. If the plan is “wait and see,” a year can pass with nothing changed. And some programs reward the early starter: as we explained in our article on the First Home Savings Account, contribution room only starts building once the account is open. The Canada Revenue Agency's FHSA page notes the participation room in the year you open one is $8,000. Even a buyer who decides to wait can open the account now. Check eligibility first.

A better version of waiting

Set a decision date. “Revisit in June” beats “when things improve.”
Define what would change your mind. A savings figure, a payment you are comfortable with, a credit target.
Run the current numbers. A pre-qualification takes minutes and shows where you stand. Try the pre-qualification tool.
Check the programs. The First Home Hub lists what is available in Ontario.
Compare owning with renting on your own figures in the calculators.

Waiting can be exactly right. It just works better as a plan than as a hope.