Research

A Google Trends and Search Console companion to the Realist podcast episode on the nine real estate questions buyers, owners, and investors keep asking. The long-run charts show which questions are becoming more important, not just where Realist already ranks.

RBC's 2026 Home Ownership Poll shows buyers are not exactly bullish. They are tired of waiting. Active buyers see a window, first-time buyers see an opening, and the trade-offs required to buy keep getting heavier.

Teranet's 2025 Ontario land registry data shows a market being reshaped by buyer composition, not a clean recovery. First-time buyers are now the largest buyer segment, their average age has reached 40, and multi-property owners have fallen from the top buyer group to third place.

Canada's headline CPI accelerated to 3.2% in May, but the real estate read is not a clean higher-for-longer story. Gasoline, food and travel pushed the print higher while shelter kept cooling.

On June 19, 2026, OSFI cut the Domestic Stability Buffer for Canada's largest banks from 3.5% to 3.0% of risk-weighted assets — its first level change since June 2023. The regulator frames it as releasing well-capitalized banks to support the economy; the reasonable inference for housing is more balance-sheet room for mortgage credit, not automatic mortgage easing.

A new Fraser Institute study on interprovincial migration from 1995/96 to 2024/25 shows Alberta as Canada's clear long-run winner for domestic migration, while Ontario and Quebec posted the largest net losses. For housing investors, the signal is straightforward: people keep moving toward provinces that still offer some combination of jobs, affordability, and room to build.