Young people in K-W need to save for an average of 20 years to afford a down payment: report
CTV
A new report shows just how drastically housing prices have outpaced many people’s budgets.
Amanda Luloff lives in a two-bedroom apartment in Cambridge, but has been looking for a house to call home for years.
“Today’s housing market is very hard,” the single parent says. “I’m 43-years-old, I’m a single mom. I feel like I’ll never be able to own a home.”
While it’s not difficult to find people in Luloff’s situation in Waterloo region and across the country, a new report shows just how drastically housing prices have outpaced many people’s budgets.
Comparing average earnings to average home prices, the charitable think tank Generation Squeeze determined it would take a typical young person in Kitchener-Waterloo 20 years of full-time work to save a 20 percent down payment on an average-priced home.
In 1976, a typical 25 to 34 year old earner could save a 20 per cent down payment in five years.
“Ontario’s lost control of home prices more over a two year period than any other province at any other time in the last half century,” says Paul Kershaw, the founder and lead researcher of Generation Squeeze.
The group’s "Straddling The Gap" report shows house prices need to drop by more than $500,000 for a typical young person to afford an average home in Ontario. In Kitchener-Waterloo, prices need to drop by more than $445,000.
