Buying home out of reach, say 9 of 10 millennials

More than nine in 10 millennials are concerned people their age won’t be able to afford to buy a home in the GTA, according to a new poll.

Eighty-five per cent of GTA residents of all ages said they are concerned about young people’s ability to buy a home, according to an Ipsos poll released Tuesday on behalf of the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) and the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB).

That number rises to 94 per cent when millennials, aged 18 to 34, are polled.

The poll also found that one in three residents believe children they know living in the GTA will be able to afford to buy a home in their community when they’re adults.

“According to a recent Centre for Urban Research and Land Development study, there are about 730,000 millennials living in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) who may be planning to move on from living in their parents’ homes and from sharing a dwelling with roommates in the next 10 years, potentially creating 500,000 new households,” Dave Wilkes, BILD president and CEO, said in a news release.

Interestingly, although millennials are concerned about the ability to own a home, they are also the most optimistic age group regarding housing supply, with 41 per cent believing that the GTA is well prepared to provide housing for the number of new residents that settle here every year.