Study flabbergasts broker

One industry veteran is stunned at the number of Canadians who believe the government should get more involved in regulating the real estate market

A study conducted by the Angus Reid Institute found the majority of Canadians believe the government should become more involved with regulating the housing market.

“Data from a series of two new public opinion polls from the Angus Reid Institute also suggest most Canadians see a greater role for government to play in the real estate sector,” Angus Ried said in its recently released study, Beyond Vancouver & Toronto, most Canadian city dwellers say home prices either high or unreasonable.

According to the study, 66% of Canadians said “government should get more involved” in the real estate sector; the remaining third of those polled said the “government should stay out and leave it to the industry to manage.”

The results surprised long-time mortgage broker Joe Sammut.

“That’s the complete opposite of what I believe; I believe the government is not doing enough to regulate consumer credit cards,” Sammut, a broker with Mortgage Architects Mortgage Gate Group, told MortgageBrokerNews.ca. “They have already implemented a number of regulations and (although) we haven’t been crippled by it, it’s certainly hurt us.”

Many brokers have made the same argument before. And while some have countered, arguing the government has very little power when it comes to regulating consumer credit, Sammut says it’s a matter of “won’t” and not “can’t.”

“The problem is these companies are so powerful, the government would have a fight on its hands,” Sammut said. “They need to become more selective with how much credit they give out (to Canadians).”

The public interest research firm conducted a random online survey across Canada from February 2-10, which included 5,867 Canadians. The survey data contains a margin of error of +/- 1.3%. A separate survey included 1,513 participants and had a margin of error of +/- 2.5%.