For the first time, the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) has published full data on how much it takes to buy a home in Canada – and it’s not as easy as it appears.
The CBA, which represents the nation’s mortgage companies, released its quarterly data on Thursday. Based on a standard five-year fixed rate mortgage, the average first-time buyer can expect to pay $2,250 per month.
In some cities, with smaller populations, it’s a bit cheaper – but in bigger cities, like Vancouver and Toronto, the average is in the high $4,400s a month, roughly double the national average.
Those statistics come from the Bank of Montreal’s Canadian Multiple Listing Service (CMRS) and reflect the average price paid for a home in the most-populated cities, a separate survey of realtors conducted in January.
In all, it’s about $1,380 a month longer to own a home in Vancouver than to own in Toronto, for example.
But that’s still way more than the national average of $1,250 per month.
“The data reflects very different prices in very different cities,” CBA president Bruce Anderson said during a telephone interview, adding that prices in Vancouver are still rising.
“That may be partly due to the fact that there is not a huge amount of supply in some markets, particularly in Vancouver.”
Anderson said he expects prices in Vancouver to continue to rise, as builders start to use a lot of land for residential development, which has increased demand for housing.
The CBA collects the data as part of its national housing market monitoring survey. (CBC)
Last time the CBA released its figures in 2013, it put the total cost of owning an apartment in Vancouver at $2,100 per month – about $4,700 higher than the national average.
In recent months, however, the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Vancouver has dropped some, to about $1,800, according to data provided by CMRS.
Anderson said he’s not sure how much of the lower average price is due to the low vacancy rate for new apartment units — which is 2.6 per cent according to CMRS, well below the current rate of about 3.3 percent.
“Part of the reason for the lower rent is that fewer houses are being built,” he said. “So people are getting ready
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