Canadian Millennials Still Dream Of Home Ownership & Here's What They'd Be Prepared To Do
Would you move to buy a home?
A row of houses in Toronto.
Canada's housing market may be in a serious state of flux – but that hasn't deterred younger people from wanting to buy a home.
In fact, according to a recent survey by real estate company Royal LePage, 60% of Canadian millennials who don't own a home currently believe they will do so one day.
This number can further be broken down according to the age group of the millennials, defined here as those aged between 26 and 41.
While about 62% of millennials under the age of 35 believe they will own a home one day, this number goes down to 56% for those above the age of 35.
Meanwhile, a pretty high percentage – 25% of current non-home-owning millennials – believe that they will never own one.
It's clear that millennials planning to buy know the challenges that lie ahead.
Of the 60% who believe they will own a property one day, 52% admit they would have to relocate to achieve this goal.
While a whopping 72% said they would like to continue living in their current city or town (if costs weren't an issue), only 35% believe that their salaries will increase at a rate that will allow them to do this.
This is all the more prevalent in certain regions with more expensive housing markets.
In the Greater Toronto Area, for example, 59% of millennials who don't own a home believe they will one day - but 63% say they will have to relocate.
In the Greater Montreal region, 82% want to own a home, but 55% said they'd have to relocate. And in Vancouver, of the 70% looking to own, 51% say they would have to move in order to achieve their goal.
This means we might see more people shifting to provinces offering cheaper housing.
So, it probably comes as no surprise that many young people are also looking for jobs that are more flexible. The study notes that 40% would change employers to work fully remote.
All in all, it looks like the demand for housing Canada isn't going away anytime soon.
According to the study, 51% of millennials across the country want to buy in the next five years. This includes those purchasing their first house, as well as those who already have one and want to make a secondary investment.
This is despite recent challenges to the housing sector such as rising interest rates, changing mortgage stress test rules and inflation.
All this means we need more houses available in the market over the next few years to bring back affordability.
Luckily, there's a new tax-free home savings account that's coming into effect in 2023, which may just help young people to make their home ownership dreams come true.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.