First-Time Homebuyers Earn Up To 36% More Than Typical Families\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe median income of first-time homebuyers vs all households in 2023.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\nSource: StatCan; Better Dwelling.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nMost of Canada can\u2019t afford a starter home, according to the agency\u2019s data. The agency looked at 5 regions, 4 provinces and 1 territory, between 2021 and 2023. They found that first-time buyers earned between 13% and 36% more than local median incomes. That\u2019s a substantial gap, and you can probably guess where the worst offender is located.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The biggest gap is in B.C.. where households buying their first home had a median annual income of $145,000 in 2023. That works out to 35.9% (+$38.3k) more than the median income of all households. It was followed by Nova Scotia, where first-time buyers had an income of $120,000, 27.3% (+$25.7k) more than the median. At $110,000 in New Brunswick, they earned a fifth more than usual\u201420.6% (+$18.7k).\u00a0<\/p>\n
The CHSP doesn\u2019t cover Quebec, and the other provinces lack comprehensive data. But the provinces above are a solid cross-section of Canada. They cover the most expensive province to some of the, um\u2026 least expensive provinces. It\u2019s probably fair to project this as a national trend. After all, Ontario and Quebec\u2019s data are very unlikely to boost affordability.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Canada\u2019s First-Time Buyers Need Faster Than Normal Income Growth<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe percentage gap between first-time buyer household incomes vs median household, 2021 vs 2023.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\nSource: StatCan; Better Dwelling.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe data only goes back to 2021 but it\u2019s enough to highlight how sharply affordability eroded. In B.C., first-time buyers were still 25.5% above the median before rising more than 10 points over the next two years. Nova Scotia\u2019s first-time buyers earned 20%, adding 7.3 points over the same period. Think about that for a moment. That means first-time buyers\u2019 incomes in B.C. grew 48.6% faster than the median, and 36.5% in Nova Scotia. StatCan provided the numbers in real terms, so adjust for the inflation gap too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Those regions have the steepest gaps, but there were more extreme climbs. In New Brunswick, first-time buyers went from 5.7% above the median to 20.6% more over those two years. Manitoba\u2019s gap roughly tripled from 4.6% more than the median to 13.4%. Keep in mind that these are starter homes. First-time buyers also get heavy tax subsidies via rebates and cheap financing. Somehow, that still only leaves households with deep pockets able to participate in the market.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yukon was the only region to improve over the period, though it remains unaffordable. Over the two years, first-time buyers went from earning 19.2% more than the median household, to 14.2% by 2023. Finally, a solution for Gen Z and Alpha. They just need to get used to 5 hours of sunlight and -40\u00b0C winters, out-earn some of the highest incomes in Canada, and boom! They can finally get on the property ladder\u2026 in the subarctic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The problem here is much bigger than \u201csucks to be them.\u201d It presents a systemic risk. First-time buyers are earlier in their careers and are buying a starter home. For most of the above regions, first-time buyer incomes are in the 70th to 80th percentiles. That puts them on the upper end of the middle class, if not the higher end.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the low end, these buyers earn more than 70% of households. Unless the poor are selling their homes as upgrades, that leaves a very limited pool to move up the chain. This reduces transactional volumes and the spin-off GDP that home sales generate. It also means limited liquidity for those looking to sell their home, as there are fewer move-up buyers. Planning to retire with your home\u2019s lofty valuation? It\u2019s probably best to use a conservative valuation on those retirement spreadsheets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
You Might Also Like<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Earning a healthy, middle-class income? Good for you, but odds are slanted against you when it comes to ever owning a home in Canada these days. Statistics Canada\u2019s Canadian Housing Statistics Program (CHSP) looked at first-time buyer incomes. The data shows that first-time buyers had much higher incomes than the median household. The problems extend […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7048852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[3754,986,14422,20079,15225,4856,22469,482,213],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-7048849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate","tag-among","tag-bubble","tag-buyers","tag-canadas","tag-earners","tag-estate","tag-firsttime","tag-real","tag-top"],"yoast_head":"\n
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