Despite being Canada’s most expensive real estate market in general, Vancouver was second to another major city in terms of how much first-time home buyers spend on a property, according to a recent survey by Genworth Canada.
First-time buyers in the city spent a median of $420,000 on their first home – sneaking in at $5,000 less than the $425,000 median price spent in Toronto.
However, the price difference may be offset by the fact that more first-timers in Vancouver were buying condos as their entry point into the market – 47 per cent, compared with 39 per cent in Toronto.
Across Canada as a whole, buyers paid a median of $293,000 on their first properties – the highest it has ever been. Here are the prices paid and down payments broken out across the country.
The Genworth survey of 1,800 first time homebuyers also polled on a series of other questions, including motivation for buying a home:
The survey also found that, across Canada:
- more than 80 per cent of respondents chose fixed-rate mortgages
- 73 per cent of respondents said mortgage brokers were important sources for mortgage information
- 80 per cent of respondents bought a resale home
- 20 per cent bought newly built or presale homes
- 55 per cent bought a single-family detached home – the largest proportion of all property types
- 17 per cent bought a condo – rising to 47 per cent in Vancouver, 40 per cent in Montreal and 39 per cent in Toronto.
