Going solo
Edmonton most affordable market in Canada for single buyers, report says
Edmonton tops the nation as a low-cost place to live for singles when it comes to home ownership.
A recent survey found the city has the lowest hurdles in Canada for entry for single-income buyers.
“That’s due to the combination of slightly higher median income even though the benchmark prices are a little bit higher than Saskatoon,” says Penelope Graham, managing editor of Zoocasa.com, an online national brokerage behind the survey.
Saskatoon and Regina had the lowest down payments in Canada for a benchmark priced condominium: $8,475 and $8,965 respectively.
In Edmonton a single buyer would need $9,190, good for third least costly in the nation.
Calgary was the sixth least costly, trailing Moncton, Winnipeg and the other Prairie cities.
But the survey went beyond examining the down payment cost, comparing it to the average after-tax income for an individual in each city. And both Alberta cities stood out stood out with higher median incomes.
For example, the benchmark price for a condo in Edmonton is more than $183,000, requiring a minimum down payment of about $9,200. But Edmonton’s average after-tax income of $42,360 was higher than Saskatoon ($36,090) and Regina ($38,768).
Zoocasa did one additional calculation, Graham adds. Assuming a single person could theoretically set aside 100 per cent of income toward the down payment, it measured how many months would it take to save the minimum down payment.
Edmonton was most affordable at 2.6 months, trailed by Regina and Saskatoon, both at 2.8 months. Calgary ranked fourth in affordability at 3.3 months. The national average was 9.2 months with Vancouver and Toronto being the least affordable, at 14.4 and 10.5 months respectively.
“Obviously this is a theoretical timeline because nobody is in a position to set aside 100 per cent of income,” she says. “But we just wanted to illustrate what kind of a multiple housing prices are compared with income.”
Graham adds the brokerage released the survey to coincide with Valentine’s Day last week, and to mark the growing trend of single households in Canada overall.
“There’s data that shows Canadians are increasingly buying real estate on their own, not necessarily with a romantic partner,” she says.
“The most recent census data (2016) shows the number of single households was up to 4 million from about 1.7 million in the 1980s, and about half of them (2 million) do actually own a home.”
Graham notes the study highlights the lack of affordability in Canada’s largest cities compared with the Prairies, which have seen prices fall since 2014 when a slump in the energy sector began, which continues today.
“So it’s just much more feasible in Prairie cities if you have a dedicated savings plan.”
Canadians are increasingly buying real estate on their own, not necessarily with a romantic partner.