TORONTO, ON,
December 19, 2017 – They
might not agree on everything, but when it comes to home ownership being a
challenge for younger buyers, Ontarians of all ages concur. In a survey
conducted by Nanos Research for the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA),
9-in-10 Ontarians aged 30 to 39 (91%) and 88% of those 60 plus, agree or
somewhat agree that owning one’s own home is more difficult for young people now
than it used to be. Yet the dream of home ownership persists, with more than
9-in-10 Ontarians across all age groups agreeing or somewhat agreeing that home
ownership is important to them.
“We may never
settle the ‘who has it harder’ argument between baby boomers and millennials,
but on this particular issue, there’s no contest: owning a home is tougher these
days than it was for the previous generation,” said Tim Hudak, OREA CEO. “It
takes much longer for millennials to save up for a down payment, and when they
finally do, their housing options are limited. Either because the housing that’s
available is out of their price range, there’s not enough of the housing they
can afford, or public policy keeps changing and pushing their buying plans
further away.”
It now takes 15
years of full-time work for a typical young Ontarian (age 25-34) to save a 20
per cent down payment on an average-priced home, according to research from
Generation Squeeze. In 1976-80, it only took five years of full-time work to
save the 20 per cent down payment on an average-priced home in
Ontario.
“There’s no
denying the challenges faced by millennial home buyers today; the Ontario
government tried to alleviate the pressure earlier this year when it doubled the
first-time home buyer tax rebate,” said Hudak. “So, we know policy makers are
aware. Now they just need to enforce policies that effectively bring more
housing supply to the marketplace.”
Not
surprisingly, a large majority of home owners and aspiring home owners say that
single detached homes are the best fit for their needs right now (73%). Semi
detached homes were named the second best fit (35%), with townhouses and low
rise condominiums coming in third for being the second best fit (15%
each).
Ontario Realtors
continue to advocate for government policies to increase the supply of housing,
lower taxes and fees, and stop the pile on of regulation and demand side policy
interventions.
Source: Ontario Real Estate Association
Methodology
Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land-
and cell-lines) random telephone survey of 2,000 homeowners and aspiring
homeowners in Ontario, 18 years of age or older, between November 3rd
and 19th, 2017. Participants were randomly recruited by telephone
using live agents and administered a survey. The sample is geographically
stratified to be representative of Ontario.
Aspiring homeowners are defined here as
Ontarians who currently rent their home but are likely to buy in the next three
years. Individuals were randomly called using random digit dialling with a
maximum of five call backs. The margin of error for a random survey of 2,000
Ontarians is ±2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. This study was
commissioned by the Ontario Real Estate Association and the research was
conducted by Nanos Research.
About the
Ontario Real Estate Association
The Ontario Real
Estate Association represents 70,000 brokers and salespeople who are members of
the 39 real estate boards throughout the province. OREA serves its REALTOR®
members through a wide variety of professional publications, educational
programs, advocacy, and other services.
