Ontarians See Real Estate Market Strengthening as
Six in Ten (60%) Ontarians Say their Local Real Estate Market is Favourable, Up 3 Points Year over Year

Toronto, ON - More Ontarians now have a favourable opinion of the real estate market in their local city or town, according to a new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of the Ontario Real Estate Association. In terms of their local market, six in ten (60%) Ontarians rate it as favourable, giving their local real estate market a score of at least 6 on a scale of 1 to 10, up 3 points since a year ago.

Favourability is highest in the GTA (66%, +5 points from last year), Eastern Ontario (58%, +5), Southwest (58%, +1), Central (53%, -1) and Northern Ontario (42%, -3). Current homeowners are especially likely (69%) to rate their local market as favourable.

Moreover, four in ten (41%) Ontarians say that the real estate market in their neighbourhood is stronger than it was compared to one year ago, compared to only 34% of Ontarians who said the same at this point last year. In terms of the market's performance in their city or town more broadly, 39% say it is stronger than it was a year ago, while only 35% last year said the same. Those living in the GTA are most inclined to say their local city's real estate market is stronger than last year (49%), followed by those living in Southwest (36%), Central (30%), the North (24%) and Eastern Ontario (21%).

Looking ahead to the next year, many Ontarians see further improvement in the real estate market of their local town or city, with four in ten (40%) believing it will strengthen, more than the 34% who thought so at this time last year. Once again, optimism is led by those in the GTA (46%), followed by Ontarians living in Southwest (37%), Central (34%) Eastern (34%) and Northern (22%) Ontario. Extending the lens out to the next ten years, one half (49%) of Ontarians believe their local market will strengthen (up 3 points).

Thinking more broadly about how Ontarians would characterize the overall state of the economy in their city or town, a majority (54%) would describe it as being good, rating it at least a 6 on a scale of 1 to 10. Those in the GTA have the best impression of their local economy (66%), followed by those living in the East (63%), Southwest (42%), Central (39%) and Northern (26%) parts of the province.

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted between May 20th and 24th, 2015, on behalf of the Ontario Real Estate Association. For this survey, a sample of 1,000 Ontarians from Ipsos' Canadian online panel was interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within +/-3.5 percentage points of what the results would be had all adults in Ontario been surveyed.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Sean Simpson
Vice President
Ipsos Public Affairs
(416) 572-4474
[email protected]

About Ipsos in Canada

Ipsos is Canada's market intelligence leader, the country's leading provider of public opinion research, and research partner for loyalty and forecasting and modelling insights. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos employs more than 600 research professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in the country, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and online panels. Ipsos' marketing research and public affairs practices offer the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada, all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, Ipsos offers syndicated information or custom solutions across key sectors of the Canadian economy, including consumer packaged goods, financial services, automotive, retail, and technology & telecommunications. Ipsos is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.

To learn more, please visit www.ipsos.ca.

About Ipsos

Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has grown into a worldwide research group with a strong presence in all key markets. Ipsos ranks third in the global research industry.

With offices in 87 countries, Ipsos delivers insightful expertise across five research specializations: brand, advertising and media, customer loyalty, marketing, public affairs research, and survey management.

Ipsos researchers assess market potential and interpret market trends. They develop and build brands. They help clients build long-term relationships with their customers. They test advertising and study audience responses to various media and they measure public opinion around the globe.

Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999 and generated global revenues of e1,669.5 ($2,218.4 million) in 2014.

Visit www.ipsos.com to learn more about Ipsos' offerings and capabilities.