research report · July 9, 2026
The Real Estate Questions Canadians Are Googling in 2026
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.
Google Trends Canada data pulled for the episode's major real estate questions, with Realist Search Console layered in separately.
The corrected search read
Method note
This report uses two different Google datasets. Google Trends is the long-run national demand layer and goes back to 2004. Search Console is Realist.ca's own site-performance layer and only shows how realist.ca appeared in Google for the exported window. The prior version leaned too hard on Search Console. This version uses Trends for the historical question charts and Search Console only for Realist-specific visibility.
Bottom line
The real signal is not that Canadians asked one housing question in 2026. It is that several question families are peaking at the same time: home prices, renewal stress, rent-vs-buy math, cap rates, principal-residence tax, short-term-rental rules, incorporation, 30-year amortization, and fixed-versus-variable mortgage decisions.
That is a useful editorial map. People are not just casually browsing. They are trying to decide whether to buy, rent, renew, sell, incorporate, Airbnb, or underwrite an investment. Realist should answer those questions with tools, not just articles.
1. Will house prices go down?
Google Trends Canada, 2004-present, annual average search-interest index for "house prices" where 100 is the peak year in this pull. Home-price search interest rose into the 2021-2022 boom, pulled back, then re-accelerated in 2026 as buyers and sellers tried to reprice the market.
View data table
| Year | house prices |
|---|---|
| 2004 | 35 |
| 2005 | 38 |
| 2006 | 41 |
| 2007 | 46 |
| 2008 | 52 |
| 2009 | 38 |
| 2010 | 37 |
| 2011 | 39 |
| 2012 | 44 |
| 2013 | 43 |
| 2014 | 47 |
| 2015 | 59 |
| 2016 | 74 |
| 2017 | 77 |
| 2018 | 67 |
| 2019 | 63 |
| 2020 | 70 |
| 2021 | 81 |
| 2022 | 98 |
| 2023 | 71 |
| 2024 | 57 |
| 2025 | 65 |
| 2026 | 100 |
Reference line: Half of peak (50).
2. Is it cheaper to rent or buy?
Google Trends Canada, 2004-present, annual average search-interest index for "rent vs buy" where 100 is the peak year in this pull. This is the tool opportunity. The term was sleepy for years, then became much more relevant as ownership costs detached from rent and income.
View data table
| Year | rent vs buy |
|---|---|
| 2004 | 7 |
| 2005 | 6 |
| 2006 | 10 |
| 2007 | 8 |
| 2008 | 8 |
| 2009 | 8 |
| 2010 | 12 |
| 2011 | 13 |
| 2012 | 11 |
| 2013 | 14 |
| 2014 | 17 |
| 2015 | 18 |
| 2016 | 14 |
| 2017 | 15 |
| 2018 | 14 |
| 2019 | 15 |
| 2020 | 14 |
| 2021 | 13 |
| 2022 | 12 |
| 2023 | 14 |
| 2024 | 16 |
| 2025 | 26 |
| 2026 | 100 |
Reference line: Half of peak (50).
3. What cap rate or cash flow makes sense?
Google Trends Canada, 2004-present, annual average search-interest index for "cap rate" where 100 is the peak year in this pull. Investor search interest has moved from generic property enthusiasm toward actual yield math. That is Realist's lane.
View data table
| Year | cap rate |
|---|---|
| 2004 | 9 |
| 2005 | 8 |
| 2006 | 9 |
| 2007 | 12 |
| 2008 | 13 |
| 2009 | 13 |
| 2010 | 14 |
| 2011 | 15 |
| 2012 | 16 |
| 2013 | 19 |
| 2014 | 20 |
| 2015 | 22 |
| 2016 | 21 |
| 2017 | 22 |
| 2018 | 23 |
| 2019 | 23 |
| 2020 | 20 |
| 2021 | 24 |
| 2022 | 31 |
| 2023 | 29 |
| 2024 | 31 |
| 2025 | 44 |
| 2026 | 100 |
Reference line: Half of peak (50).
4. What happens at mortgage renewal?
Google Trends Canada, 2004-present, annual average search-interest index for "mortgage renewal" where 100 is the peak year in this pull. Renewal stress is now a mainstream housing question. This is where payment-shock explainers should become calculators and triage workflows.
View data table
| Year | mortgage renewal |
|---|---|
| 2004 | 3 |
| 2005 | 3 |
| 2006 | 3 |
| 2007 | 5 |
| 2008 | 6 |
| 2009 | 8 |
| 2010 | 6 |
| 2011 | 7 |
| 2012 | 10 |
| 2013 | 11 |
| 2014 | 11 |
| 2015 | 15 |
| 2016 | 14 |
| 2017 | 16 |
| 2018 | 23 |
| 2019 | 23 |
| 2020 | 28 |
| 2021 | 24 |
| 2022 | 25 |
| 2023 | 42 |
| 2024 | 59 |
| 2025 | 82 |
| 2026 | 100 |
Reference line: Half of peak (50).
5. How does the principal residence exemption work?
Google Trends Canada, 2004-present, annual average search-interest index for "principal residence exemption" where 100 is the peak year in this pull. The tax question keeps getting more important as more household wealth sits inside owner-occupied housing.
View data table
| Year | principal residence exemption |
|---|---|
| 2004 | 0 |
| 2005 | 0 |
| 2006 | 20 |
| 2007 | 14 |
| 2008 | 12 |
| 2009 | 16 |
| 2010 | 20 |
| 2011 | 27 |
| 2012 | 29 |
| 2013 | 36 |
| 2014 | 41 |
| 2015 | 50 |
| 2016 | 55 |
| 2017 | 79 |
| 2018 | 67 |
| 2019 | 64 |
| 2020 | 61 |
| 2021 | 76 |
| 2022 | 84 |
| 2023 | 75 |
| 2024 | 93 |
| 2025 | 75 |
| 2026 | 100 |
Reference line: Half of peak (50).
6. Can I Airbnb or short-term-rent this property?
Google Trends Canada, 2004-present, annual average search-interest index for "airbnb rules" where 100 is the peak year in this pull. Search interest only became meaningful after Airbnb itself became a real housing-market issue. The useful page is local and rules-driven.
View data table
| Year | airbnb rules |
|---|---|
| 2004 | 0 |
| 2005 | 0 |
| 2006 | 0 |
| 2007 | 0 |
| 2008 | 0 |
| 2009 | 0 |
| 2010 | 0 |
| 2011 | 0 |
| 2012 | 0 |
| 2013 | 0 |
| 2014 | 2 |
| 2015 | 5 |
| 2016 | 10 |
| 2017 | 20 |
| 2018 | 34 |
| 2019 | 48 |
| 2020 | 47 |
| 2021 | 46 |
| 2022 | 59 |
| 2023 | 87 |
| 2024 | 100 |
| 2025 | 69 |
| 2026 | 95 |
Reference line: Half of peak (50).
7. Should rental property go inside a corporation?
Google Trends Canada, 2004-present, annual average search-interest index for "rental property corporation" where 100 is the peak year in this pull. This is not a beginner question. It is a scale, tax, financing, accounting, and liability question for investors who are getting more serious.
View data table
| Year | rental property corporation |
|---|---|
| 2004 | 0 |
| 2005 | 0 |
| 2006 | 0 |
| 2007 | 0 |
| 2008 | 0 |
| 2009 | 0 |
| 2010 | 0 |
| 2011 | 16 |
| 2012 | 22 |
| 2013 | 29 |
| 2014 | 33 |
| 2015 | 43 |
| 2016 | 28 |
| 2017 | 36 |
| 2018 | 33 |
| 2019 | 33 |
| 2020 | 36 |
| 2021 | 49 |
| 2022 | 56 |
| 2023 | 60 |
| 2024 | 61 |
| 2025 | 63 |
| 2026 | 100 |
Reference line: Half of peak (50).
8. What is the deal with 30-year amortization?
Google Trends Canada, 2004-present, annual average search-interest index for "30 year amortization" where 100 is the peak year in this pull. The policy cycle shows up clearly: long amortization becomes interesting when affordability breaks and governments reach for payment relief.
View data table
| Year | 30 year amortization |
|---|---|
| 2004 | 0 |
| 2005 | 0 |
| 2006 | 26 |
| 2007 | 0 |
| 2008 | 0 |
| 2009 | 0 |
| 2010 | 6 |
| 2011 | 8 |
| 2012 | 18 |
| 2013 | 23 |
| 2014 | 17 |
| 2015 | 18 |
| 2016 | 18 |
| 2017 | 18 |
| 2018 | 16 |
| 2019 | 23 |
| 2020 | 25 |
| 2021 | 26 |
| 2022 | 24 |
| 2023 | 25 |
| 2024 | 100 |
| 2025 | 73 |
| 2026 | 98 |
Reference line: Half of peak (50).
9. Fixed or variable mortgage?
Google Trends Canada, 2004-present, annual average search-interest index for "fixed or variable mortgage" where 100 is the peak year in this pull. The rate-decision question spiked with the post-2021 rate shock. It should be answered with scenario math, not rate-prediction theatre.
View data table
| Year | fixed or variable mortgage |
|---|---|
| 2004 | 0 |
| 2005 | 16 |
| 2006 | 0 |
| 2007 | 14 |
| 2008 | 25 |
| 2009 | 27 |
| 2010 | 44 |
| 2011 | 34 |
| 2012 | 18 |
| 2013 | 25 |
| 2014 | 27 |
| 2015 | 38 |
| 2016 | 28 |
| 2017 | 30 |
| 2018 | 46 |
| 2019 | 24 |
| 2020 | 42 |
| 2021 | 53 |
| 2022 | 87 |
| 2023 | 41 |
| 2024 | 48 |
| 2025 | 76 |
| 2026 | 100 |
Reference line: Half of peak (50).
Realist's organic search traffic is already mostly Canadian
Google Search Console country tab for realist.ca, Apr. 21 to Jul. 6, 2026. This is Realist site-performance data, not national search demand.
View data table
| country | Clicks | Impressions |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | 543 | 8,748 |
| United States | 13 | 3,325 |
| India | 2 | 130 |
| Italy | 2 | 31 |
| Rest of world | 10 | 1,504 |
Realist current visibility: strong brand/tool base, weak question capture
Queries grouped manually from the 650 exported Search Console rows. This shows what Realist currently captures, not total national demand.
View data table
| theme | Impressions | Clicks |
|---|---|---|
| Realist / deal tools | 3,941 | 277 |
| Home prices | 185 | 0 |
| Cash flow / cap rates | 48 | 0 |
| Rent vs buy | 33 | 0 |
| Rates / renewals | 4 | 0 |
| PRE / capital gains | 4 | 0 |
| Rental incorporation | 0 | 0 |
| Airbnb / STR rules | 0 | 0 |
| 30-year amortization | 0 | 0 |
What Realist should build from this
The corrected roadmap is straightforward.
- Build one permanent hub for the nine questions.
- Turn rent-vs-buy into a tool-first page, not a blog post.
- Attach cap-rate and cash-flow questions to the analyzer, market data, and Deal of the Day.
- Build a renewal triage workflow that starts with payment shock.
- Make Airbnb rules local by city, because national answers are useless.
- Make PRE and incorporation pages plain-English but referral-aware, because tax questions need expert handoff.
- Treat 30-year amortization as a payment-relief page, not a policy-news page.
That is the point: podcast creates demand, Trends shows the long-run question curve, Search Console shows where Realist is undercapturing it, and the product turns the question into a decision.
The Realist read
The winning companion report is not a keyword dump. It is a decision map. If someone searches the question, Realist should help them finish the next step: underwrite, compare, triage, ask a professional, or submit a deal.
Sources
- Google Trends Canada, 2004-present annual interest-over-time pulls for the nine search terms ↗— Google Trends
- Google Search Console export for realist.ca, Apr. 21 to Jul. 6, 2026 ↗— Google Search Console
- The 9 Most Googled Real Estate Questions of 2026 ↗— Realist podcast draft
- Realist report route ↗— Realist.ca