A large majority of Canadians in the so-called Y generation are worried that affordability will hamper their desire to own a home in their lifetime, according to an online survey conducted for real estate firm Royal LePage.

More than 72 per cent of poll respondents born between 1980 and 1994 — currently aged between 19 and 33 — said they were pessimistic about their ability to own a home because of housing prices.

The survey, conducted last September and released Wednesday, also found 66 per cent of respondents in the Baby Boom generation, born between 1947 and 1996, were also worried about housing affordability.

"Baby Boomers have built homes for themselves,'' said Phil Soper, CEO of Royal LePage Real Estate.

"It's their children that are seeking to create a similar atmosphere of their own, even though new impediments exist for this younger generation.''

Real estate industry observers, including Royal LePage, have said that stricter mortgage rules brought in last summer by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty have made it tougher for first-time buyers to borrow money for a home.

The survey, which was released a day before Flaherty releases his next budget on Thursday, found 46 per cent of the younger age group said the new rules would affect their ability to purchase a home.

Only 21 per cent of Baby Boomers felt the same way.

The younger Canadians were most likely to be renting their primary residence but didn't see it as a desirable long-term solution.

While 55 per cent of Generation Y said they intend to buy their next primary residence, 33 per cent said they plan to rent.

The survey was completed Sept. 13-21 by 1,013 generation Y and 1,011 boomers has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.08 per cent, 19 times out of 20. Regional or provincial breakdowns are less accurate because of the smaller sample size.

Also on Wednesday, the Teranet-National Bank house price index recorded its sixth consecutive month-to-month decline in February, providing more evidence of the cooling trend that has beset home sales since last summer.

The index fell 0.2 per cent from January and increased only 2.7 per cent on a year-to-year basis from February 2012.

Teranet compiles the index based on a selection of homes sold in major markets across Canada.

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• Think you know your generation?

  The Huffington Post Canada and Abacus Data surveyed 1,004 Canadian millennials from across the country on a variety of issues. Here's what we found:

• Biggest challenges?

  We asked 1,004 Canadian millennials to rank the biggest challenges facing their generation.

• What's the biggest challenge facing your generation?

  2% rank the decriminalization of marijuana as No. 1 or 2.

• What's the biggest challenge facing your generation?

  5% of millennials rank internet regulation and online privacy as one of their top two issues.

• What's the biggest challenge facing your generation?

  7% rank bullying as the first or second biggest challenge.

• What's the biggest challenge facing your generation?

  8% of millennials rank retirement security No. 1 or 2.

• What's the biggest challenge facing your generation?

  11% of millennials say access to quality health care is one of the generation's top two challenges

• What's the biggest challenge facing your generation?

  20% of millennials rank pollution and environmental protection as No. 1 or 2 of the biggest challenges faced by this generation.

• What's the biggest challenge facing your generation?

  20% say affordable housing is in the top two.

• What's the biggest challenge facing your generation?

  24% of millennials peg the cost of education as their first or second choice for the generation's biggest challenge.

• What's the biggest challenge facing your generation?

  27% say the cost of food, gas and consumer goods are in the top two.

• What's the biggest challenge facing your generation?

  32% of millennials chose "student debt and personal debt" as the first or second biggest challenge.

• What defines a good citizen?

  We asked 1,004 millennials between the ages of 18-30 what it takes to be a good Canadian citizen.

• What defines a good citizen?

  15% of millennials say it takes being active in political parties...

• What defines a good citizen?

  28% of millennials say donating money to charity makes a good citizen..

• What defines a good citizen?

  35% of millennials say that being active in social organizations is important to citizenship..

• What defines a good citizen?

  63% of millennials say being informed about current events is important..

• What defines a good citizen?

  64% of millennials say being able to fluently speak one official language is important..

• What defines a good citizen?

  74% of millennials say a good citizen is someone who always votes in elections.

• What defines a good citizen?

  81% of millennials say good citizens honestly pay their taxes.

• What's the biggest challenge facing your generation?

  43% of millennials rank the availability of quality jobs as their first or second choice.

• Health Challenges

  We asked 1,004 Canadian millennials what were their generation's biggest health challenges

• Biggest health challenge facing your generation?

  3% say pollution

• Biggest health challenge facing your generation?

  4% say sexually transmitted infections

• Biggest health challenge facing your generation?

  7% say disease

• Biggest health challenge facing your generation?

  11% say poor nutrition

• Biggest health challenge facing your generation?

  16% say obesity

• Biggest health challenge facing your generation?

  17% say addiction

• Biggest health challenge facing your generation?

  19% say mental health

• Biggest health challenge facing your generation?

  26% say lack of physical activity

• Relationship status

  Some views from 1,004 Canadian millennials on marriage and family..

• Relationship status

  18% of millennials are in a common law relationship

• Relationship status

  66% of millennials are single

• Relationship status

  15% of millennials are married

• Do you ever want to get married?

  63% of unmarried millennials say <strong>yes</strong> 13% say <strong>no</strong> 24% say they are <strong>unsure</strong>

• Do you ever want to get married?

  65% of <strong>unmarried women</strong> say <strong>yes</strong> 13% say <strong>no</strong> 22% say they are <strong>unsure</strong>

• Do you ever want to get married?

  61% of <strong>unmarried men</strong> say <strong>yes</strong> 13% say <strong>no</strong> 26% say they are <strong>unsure</strong>

• Is marriage an outdated institution?

  33% agree 67% disagree

• Do you have children?

  12% of millennials surveyed have children 88% do not

• Do you want to have children at some point?

  64% of millennials say yes 12% say no 24% are unsure

• More On Millennials

  Huffington Post Canada's series on millennials, Asking Y. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/generation-y" target=blank>Visit it here</a>.