Saving for a home in Edmonton is 76 years faster than in Vancouver
If saving for a down payment feels like an endless uphill battle, Edmonton is one of the few cities in Canada where that timeline is still relatively within reach.
A new report from the real estate platform Zoocasa looked at how long it would take an average-income household to save for a down payment in Canada’s largest cities. In Edmonton, it would take seven years and two months, putting YEG in a group of just four Canadian cities where buyers can get there in less than a decade.
The comparatively shorter timeline comes down to a mix of factors.
“Affordable detached prices ($571,372) paired with strong average after-tax household incomes make it one of the fastest paths to ownership in the country,” Zoocasa writes.
“Low development costs and ample land supply help keep prices in check compared to Ontario’s hottest markets.”
Only one city performed better than Edmonton. In Winnipeg, it will take buyers about six years to save for a down payment. The lower average home price of $456,232 keeps the minimum down payment at around $22,812, making it the fastest path to home ownership.
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After Edmonton, Calgary followed behind at nine years and eight months, followed by Montreal at nine years and 10 months.
Unsurprisingly, Canada’s most expensive markets saw the longest path to home ownership, but the difference is a literal lifetime, with it taking 76 fewer years to save for a home in Edmonton compared to Canada’s most expensive city.
Zoocasa
In Vancouver, the average is $1,835,900, requiring a minimum down payment of $367,180. With the average income, it would take nearly 84 years to save that amount.
That means if a 25-year-old began saving five per cent of their after-tax income today, they wouldn’t have enough until they were 109 years old.
Toronto isn’t far behind. At $1,568,543, the 20 per cent minimum down payment of $313,709 would take 72 years and seven months to save.
Zoocasa says the average Canadian mortgage is 25 years, meaning in some of these cities, you’d spend nearly as long saving for the down payment as you would paying off the house.
You can find the full report on Zoocasa’s website.