In the past five years, homeownership has been on the decline in 88 out of Canada's top 100 most popular cities — including Prince George, according to a study conducted by Point2Homes.
Data from Statistics Canada indicates rates are on the decline in the country for the first time in over 45 years, with 11 out of 13 provinces and territories seeing a drop since 2011 with some cities such as Waterloo, Ont. reporting decreases of seven per cent or more.
In Prince George, the rate of homeownership has hovered around 69 per cent since 2001, with the exception of a slight rise to 70 per cent in 2006. Overall, the city saw a 0.6 per decrease in ownership rates from 2001-2016.
While the decrease is modest in Prince George, other B.C. cities have actually seen gains in homeownership rates.
Cities within the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island were among those seeing the highest increases, including Richmond (4.7 per cent), Victoria (5 per cent), Vancouver (7.2 per cent), Burnaby (10.1 per cent) and New Westminster (17.6 per cent).
*The homeownership changes at national, province, and city level have been computed using data from the 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2016 Statistics Canada, Statistics Canada-Census Profile 2016, 2011, 2006, 2001 - Point2Homes
