Buying your first home is an exciting time but it also comes with many questions, concerns and in some cases, nerves. With that in mind, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released today its 2015 First-Time Homebuyers Survey (#FirstTimeBuyers) coinciding with the fifth anniversary of Financial Literacy Month (#FLM2015).

“For many Canadians, buying their first home is the single, largest purchase they have ever made.” says Nathalie Fredette, Vice- President, Client Relationship Management. “Our aim is to provide mortgage brokers, lenders and other industry professionals with valuable information and useful tools so they can better guide their clients through this major life event.”

“CMHC’s survey results reiterate the central role that mortgage professionals play in providing first-time homebuyers with the information they need to manage their money and debt wisely,” said Jane Rooney, Canada’s Financial Literacy Leader. “The more we understand the financial literacy needs of Canadians, the better we can be at providing the right information at the right time to help them build their financial knowledge, skills and confidence.”

2015 Survey Highlights:
• First-time homebuyers are two times more likely to use social media to research homebuying information than other mortgage consumers.
• First-time buyers are not as confident as repeat buyers. They tended to have a lower understanding of mortgage options and were more likely to find the mortgage process difficult. They were also less certain about where to go if they faced financial trouble.
• Over 70% of first-time homebuyers received advice regarding mortgage rates, terms, affordability and repayment strategies from their brokers and lenders. Advice on long-term mortgage strategies increased a first-time homebuyers’ level of understanding of options and their level of satisfaction with their mortgage professional by over 80%.