House prices in many parts of Canada have been soaring for years. Mortgages are growing larger and the number of households with extreme levels of debt is multiplying rapidly. So you’d think that we would be seeing an increase in the number of households that are having a hard time paying off their mortgages. Not so.
Mortgage rule changes and increasing interest rates—surprisingly—weren’t the top motivators for prospective homebuyers in 2017, according to a new survey from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Instead, the 2018 Prospective Home Buyers Survey found that improved accessibility (i.e., fewer physical obstacles and barriers) and investment opportunity were the main driving factors to purchase a home.
It’s not an easy time to be a millennial home buyer in Vancouver. Increasingly high prices, low inventory and new mortgage qualification changes have made it a challenging time for young adults to enter the local real estate market. Market conditions in Vancouver have millennials feeling “left out” of the idea of home ownership, and have even
