There’s plenty to do if you’re single in Vancouver, but one of those things might be not having the time to save up for a home, at least not in this lifetime.
We’ve published countless stories about the woes of saving for a home in this city, the most expensive in Canada, regarding housing for renting and owning.
There might be a solution, though, and it requires you to not be single anymore.
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According to RateHub, From January to December last year, the income required to purchase the average Vancouver home increased by $24,600. In January 2023, the needed income was $212,800; by December, it was $237,400.
Point2Homes
An income of $237,400 is well above average in Canada for a single person, but if you’re a couple, it might be easier to attain.
A new report from Point2Homes highlights the differences between saving for a home as a single person versus someone in a relationship.
Income values were sourced from Statistics Canada, based on the median income for singles and couples. A couple means two people without children. Meanwhile, home prices were sourced from the Canadian Real Estate Association.
“It would take years upon long years to save enough to buy a home, so home seekers could rightfully start feeling like homeownership is not an attainable goal,” the report says.
It also offers some soul-crushing reality, saying, “For single buyers, a lifetime might not be enough.”
Three to 75 years is how much time a “buyer on a single income would need to cover the difference between the affordable bank loan and the starter home price in Canada’s 70 largest cities.”
Looking at Vancouver specifically, with a starter home valued at $628,482, couples would save enough in 12 years and ten months. That would take a single individual 52 years and six months.
The average life expectancy in Canada, as of 2020, was 81.75 years. Assuming you’re in your mid-twenties, you’d be about 77 years old by the time you’ve saved enough on a median income, based on this report. If you’re forever alone, that is.
“We calculated the mortgage amount that an individual and a couple would be eligible for based on their respective incomes, assuming a monthly mortgage payment (including insurance and taxes) that wouldn’t represent more than 30% of the median income,” Point2Homes said.
“We also assumed a 5-year, fixed-rate mortgage with an interest rate of 6.39%, which is in line with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, conventional mortgage lending rate, 5-year term for December 2023, with an amortization period of 25 years.”
Long story short, unless you make well above the average income in Canada, you should start looking for the love of your life if you want to own a home.
That, or win the lottery.