​Survey Finds That More Than Half Of Young Potential Buyers In Toronto Have Given Up On Ever Owning A Home.

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A new survey has found that more than half of young people in Toronto who want to buy a home have already given up on the idea due to soaring real estate prices and the cost of living.

The Sotheby’s International Realty survey looked at 1,502 Canadians aged 18-28 across the country and focused on downtown neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal. It found that more than half of young people in the GTA who wanted to purchase a home had given up due to high housing prices.

Sixty percent said they were “seriously considering” moving out of Toronto in order to own a home. A third said they planned on leaving within two years, and another 17 percent said they would be gone within four years.

The trend was consistent in other cities. In Calgary, 49 percent of respondents said they had given up on homeownership, as did 47 per cent in Montreal and 43 per cent in Vancouver.

“There’s been a seismic shift over the past decade when it comes to how young people view real estate and homeownership,” said Ross McCredie, president of Sotheby’s Canada.

“It’s not that they don’t want to own a home; it’s that they can no longer afford to do so in the neighbourhoods they grew up in. They are now being forced to look further and further afield for a property they can afford.”

The report comes as Canada faces a growing affordability crisis, particularly in its largest cities. Last month, the Bank of Canada warned that Toronto and Vancouver were at risk of a housing market crash due to high levels of household debt and soaring prices.

Home prices have more than doubled in Toronto since 2009 and are up more than 60 percent in Vancouver.

The Sotheby’s survey also found that most young people no longer view real estate as a reliable investment. Just over half of respondents said they believe home prices will decrease in the next five years, while only 15 percent said they think they will go up.


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Sarah Colucci

Sarah is a senior mortgage consultant, working with Mortgage Edge, Canada's largest independent brokerage house. Get in touch at sarah.colucci@mortgagedge.ca.

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