Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has now released survey findings for its inaugural First-Time Homebuyers Survey. Results were obtained from an online survey of close to 500 First-Time Buyers from across Canada, all of whom had a mortgage transaction in the past 12 months. Data was also supplemented with input from a series of focus groups in Halifax, Montreal, London, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.

Key findings were:

• First-Time Buyers are young (under 35), highly educated (82% have post-secondary education) and more likely than other buyers to have been born outside of Canada (23% of First-Time Buyers were born outside of Canada compared to 13% of Repeat Buyers)
• Their housing requirements and reasons for buying vary widely and they are more likely to move to a subsequent home sooner (31% plan to move within 5 years compared to 19% of Repeat Buyers)
• "Not wanting to rent" and "wanting to own their home" are the key reasons First-Time Buyers pursue homeownership 
• First-Time Buyers typically take three months longer than Repeat Buyers to plan their home purchase, with a median of 10 months of planning
• Although both First-Time Buyers and Repeat Buyers predominately purchase detached homes (59% and 73% respectively), First-Time Buyers are more likely to purchase semi-detached, row/townhouses and condos

You can find the full survey results at http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/hoficlincl/moloin/rean/rean_037.cfm