Some Canadians struggle to enter housing market as costs rise: ‘Nothing we can do’

Prospective homebuyers being shut out of Canada's hot housing market are giving up, pausing or shifting their searches as affordability continues to erode.

Buying a home remains out of reach for many families struggling to break into Canada’s booming housing market as home prices continue to soar alongside inflation and a higher cost of borrowing.

Among frustrated prospective buyers is Mac Ross, an assistant professor at Western University’s School of Kinesiology in London, Ont. He tells Global News that he’s struggling to find a home big enough for his growing family, even on a professor’s salary.

The family of four has been renting a two-bedroom home for the past few years, but the addition of a new baby pushed Ross and his wife to put together a down payment in search of a three-bedroom home five months ago.

Though he says they’ve found a couple of bungalows listed for just under $500,000 that fit their budget and would accommodate the family, the properties were scooped up for more than $200,000 above asking.

“At that point, there’s nothing we can do. It just kind of boggles the mind that people were willing to pay that much,” he says.

The family has adopted a holding pattern in their house hunt now, and is waiting to see if the spring brings any calmer conditions. Rent is stable at their current home and Ross says they’ve been able to absorb the hit from rising prices and interest rates, though their buying budget is maxed out.

They can’t wait forever, though, as the baby is quickly growing to need a bedroom of her own, putting the pressure on to make their current space work or rent a more expensive home that will quickly burn through their downpayment savings.

“This was like our last chance, it was all we could possibly get. It’s just impossible,” Ross says. “We won’t be able to get a home, I don’t know, until the bubble goes or something.”