Ontario Millennials fear they will never buy

May 14 2018

Nearly 70 per cent of young adults in Ontario fear they won’t be able to buy a home and about 58 per cent of all adults agree.
The date comes from a Nanos Research Corporation survey done for the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA). It showed that despite the provincial government’s plan to help make residential properties more affordable, 68.5 per cent of young Ontarians say home ownership remains unaffordable in their neighborhood.
“The dream of home ownership is slipping away for an entire generation of young people,” OREA CEO Tim Hudak said. “Nearly half of Ontarians between the ages of 25 and 34 are still living at home with their parents.
The vast majority, 78 per cent, of Ontario’s Millennials agree or somewhat agree that the government needs to do more to help young people overcome the housing affordability hurdles. Saving enough for the down payment is the most significant obstacle to owning a home for 41 per cent of young Ontarians, followed by getting a mortgage approved at 22 per cent.
The problem extends beyond the young cohort: 58.7 per cent of non-Millennials in the province say that home ownership is unaffordable in their neighborhoods.
“To date, most government action has been around higher taxes or making a mortgage more expensive - none of this is helping people get into the housing market,” Hudak explained. “It is time to take a different path. Keeping home ownership within reach comes down to increasing housing supply in Ontario, particularly ‘missing middle’ housing, like townhomes and mid-rises, and providing first time home buyers with some relief like increasing the first-home buyer tax rebate and helping with down payments.”