A realtor's sign sits on the lawn in front of a home for sale on Broadway Ave. in Toronto's North Leaside neighbourhood on Sept 12 2016. (Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail)Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
From Young voices from the housing market: “Our financial life centers around the costs of our home…” By Rob Carrick and Roma Luciw
The only thing I see in common with all these young people is they all live in large cities. I live in northern B.C. and have a nephew that got a job at a local mill at the age of 18. At the age of 20 he purchased his first home. Three bedroom, two bath with garage and large workshop on a 80x150 foot lot. Why people refuse to leave the large cities and continuously complain about high housing costs is beyond me. Northern communities are affordable and have ample job opportunities in professional, trade and labor. Sorry folks, it is hard for me to feel sorry for these people when nice homes in my town can be had for $300-$400K and I have employers complaining to me they offer $30-$35/hour with overtime and benefits and can’t find people. - rickschlosser
From Haunted by housing: Millennials let rip about their home ownership frustrations by Rob Carrick
Yes, for those who choose to live in Toronto it is a financial challenge to purchase a house. In 1971, when moving to Toronto, it felt the same way. The reality is that not everyone can live in a single family house in Toronto. Not enough land. Not enough homes. But twenty- and thirty-somethings have more of everything today. More Tim Hortons, more eating out, more Lottario tickets, expensive cars, expensive entertainment, iPhones, et al. So I would say be patient, manage your finances carefully, and your turn will come to buy a home if that’s your goal. - w norman
Enough with the “millennials” side of this story already -- affordable housing is an issue for Gen X’rs as well! - Bentham
As a 50 year old who has rented for 25 years downtown, The markets have been a better investment and the opportunities now are more than what has ever existed before. Go to the opportunity rather than repeating the past. - SHB
I would add higher taxes to the basket of issues a younger, first time home buyer face in purchasing a home in a major city. It seems we have more taxes and the overall percentage of the government’s take is as high as I have seen in my working career. These include higher marginal rates of income taxes (now over 50%), carbon taxes, HST, double land transfer taxes (in Toronto). If the NDP had gotten in they would have allowed double land transfer taxes in all municipalities in Ontario. - Chinstrap
The fundamental issue is historically/abnormally low interest rates. Interest rates well below where they should be has created a housing bubble in Canada. If you want affordable housing then normalize interest rates. Simple. The Bank of Canada controls interest rates. This will also reward savers. Losers? People who are taking on massive amounts of debt... they will get devastated financially when housing corrects. Perhaps those wanting to buy but not yet able should be thankful... when housing crashes people with cash will be able to buy a house at a reasonable price. - Viking1001
Completely absent from this is the topic of how global wealth is influencing housing prices in our cities via the immigration system. When are we going to start acknowledging that admitting more demand and wealthy elites into the market is placing average local income earning residents (wherever they come from) at a disadvantage? Why aren’t we at least finding out how much preestablished non-taxed in Canada income new arrivals are bringing into the market? - Kdubs1976
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