Are you an average Canadian home-buyer? Curious as to how you fit in the mix? Let’s examine a handful of key home-buying averages compiled by industry reporting organizations, and see how you stack up.
1. First off, you can compare the amount you paid, or intend to pay, for your home against the average home price in Canada, which was $343,747 in October 2010, up from $341,232 over the same period in 2009. This, of course, as an average, represents a wide dispersion amongst cities, and rural and urban areas. For example, Vancouver reported the highest average home price at $707,207 while the average home price in Fredericton was only $152,764.[1]
2. According to the latest census, the average shelter-cost-to-income ratio (STIR) of homeowners with mortgages was 24% in 2006. This is appropriate considering the general affordability rule, as outlined by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), is that your monthly housing costs should not exceed 32% of your gross household monthly income, where housing costs include monthly mortgage principal and interest, taxes and heating expenses.[2]
3. In terms of affording a down payment, a 2010 CMHC survey reported that 30% of new home-buyers plan to or have more than a 20% down payment, and 70% are making a down payment of less than 20%.[3]
4. Also according to the CMHC, mortgage brokersrepresented 38% of total mortgage originations in 2009, up from 26% in 2003, with an even higher usage among first-time buyers (45%).[4]