Quick Summary
High mortgage rates are keeping Canadian homeowners rooted, intensifying the value and emotional significance of their existing, often shrinking, backyards.
What Happened
Elevated mortgage rates across Canada make selling existing homes, often locked into lower rates, less appealing. This “rate lock-in effect” reduces housing inventory. Simultaneously, urban densification trends continue to shrink average backyard sizes, especially in new developments.
Why It Matters
With homeowners opting to stay put, their existing properties become more central. The backyard, once perhaps overlooked, transforms into a highly prized asset. This private green space offers vital respite and utility, becoming more valuable because moving is less attractive. As one Toronto resident put it, “My backyard might be small, but it’s my little piece of calm.”
Bottom Line
A tight housing market and a preference for staying put means Canadian homeowners are digging in. Their diminishing backyards are now vital extensions of the home, cherished more than ever.
