Vancouver NOT Most Expensive Canadian City for First-Time Home Buyers: Study

Price difference in Genworth Canada survey may be explained by Vancouver's high proportion of condos bought as entry point into the market

Joannah Connolly
Other

Despite being Canada’s most expensive real estate market in general, Vancouver was second to another major city in terms of how much first-time home buyers spend on a property, according to a recent survey by Genworth Canada.

First-time buyers in the city spent a median of $420,000 on their first home – sneaking in at $5,000 less than the $425,000 median price spent in Toronto.

However, the price difference may be offset by the fact that more first-timers in Vancouver were buying condos as their entry point into the market – 47 per cent, compared with 39 per cent in Toronto.

Across Canada as a whole, buyers paid a median of $293,000 on their first properties – the highest it has ever been. Here are the prices paid and down payments broken out across the country.

The survey also found that, across Canada:

• more than 80 per cent of respondents chose fixed-rate mortgages
• 73 per cent of respondents said mortgage brokers were important sources for mortgage information
• 80 per cent of respondents bought a resale home
• 20 per cent bought newly built or presale homes
• 55 per cent bought a single-family detached home – the largest proportion of all property types
• 17 per cent bought a condo – rising to 47 per cent in Vancouver, 40 per cent in Montreal and 39 per cent in Toronto.

© 2015 Real Estate Weekly