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To: Johnny Canuck who wrote (43173)	3/6/2006 12:04:52 PM
From: Johnny Canuck	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 69151

Royal Bank home-buying survey suggests market may be softening Related Symbols: T.RY 3/6/2006 5:06:00 AM TORONTO (CP) - With interest rates moving up, a Royal Bank survey (TSX:RY) suggests Canada's home-buying boom is losing steam. The survey of buying intentions over the next two years found the share of those who are "very likely" to buy had dropped to 10 per cent - down from 13 per cent last year and at the lowest point in more than five years. Additionally, the percentage of those who plan to purchase a home in the next six months was at eight per cent, down from 10 per cent last year. But the 13th annual survey also found that overall intentions to buy a home in the next two years remained the same as in 2005 at 29 per cent. "This year's results are a definite change from what we witnessed over the last five years," Catherine Adams, RBC Royal Bank's vice-president for home equity financing, said Monday in a release. "The intention to buy is still evident, but the intensity to do so is nowhere near as great." Seventy per cent of those polled, versus 54 per cent last year, said they believe mortgage rates will be higher next year, increasing the cost of buying. If mortgage rates are to rise, more than half - 56 per cent - of mortgage holders said they aren't overly concerned because they have fixed rate mortgages, while 27 per cent said they'll probably make changes such as locking into a fixed-rate mortgage or splitting between fixed and variable. Royal Bank said the only part of the country likely to see increased home buying activity is Atlantic Canada, where those "very likely to purchase" increased to 14 per cent, from eight per cent last year. Alberta held steady at 18 per cent. But the numbers decreased in other regions, with British Columbia going from 16 per cent to 11 per cent; Saskatchewan and Manitoba going from 12 per cent to 10 per cent; Ontario from 14 per cent to 10 per cent; and Quebec moving to seven per cent from 11 per cent last year. The online poll was conducted by Ipsos-Reid between Jan. 18 and Jan. 24, based on a randomly selected representative sample of 2,001 adult Canadians. The results are considered accurate for the entire adult Canadian population within 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. © The Canadian Press, 2005