Condo development showing no signs of slowing down!

Statistics Canada released 2016 Census data and announced a few key highlights of housing in Canada. Don’t get too excited - the findings aren’t really surprising.

Out of 14.1 million households, more than 9.5 million were owned, which is a homeownership rate of 67.8% for 2016. This is relatively unchanged compared to the previous decade.

The Atlantic provinces had the highest rate of homeownership with Newfoundland and Labrador taking the top position with 76.7%. Quebec and the Territories had the lowest rate. Quebec’s homeownership rate was 61.3% and Nunavut’s was just 20%.

Atlantic Canada, Ontario, British Columbia, and Nunavut all saw declines in homeownership while Quebec and the Northwest Territories saw an increase.

Out of the Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs), Oshawa and Barrie had the highest rates. Toronto came in near the average rate with 66.5%.

As expected, the homeownership rate increased with age. Only 43.6% of 20-34 year olds own their home. 70.1% of 35-54 year olds and 76.3% of 55-64 year olds own their homes. The rate doesn’t drop until the demographic gets older than 65, where 74.6% owned.

Another obvious finding was less millennials at the age of 30 own their home compared to baby boomers at the age of 30.  

In 1981, 55.5% of baby boomers aged 30 owned their homes. In 2016, just 50.2% of 30 year old millennials owned their homes. Also, one-third of 20-34 year olds lived with their parents last year.

The Census also found that baby boomers in 1981 mostly lived in detached homes while millennials mostly lived in apartments/condos in 2016. Alert the press!

This does say something about affordability though. The Census found that 24.1% of homeowners across the country are spending more than 30% of their income on shelter costs. Anything over 30% of your income is considered unaffordable.

Toronto had 33.4% of households spending more than 30% on shelter costs, putting it at the top of the list for this statistic.

This is why more millennials are staying home, deciding to rent, and living in smaller homes like condos. Of course, this has led to an influx in condo development. Last year, nearly 1.9 million households in Canada were condos. Of these, 67.1% were owners and the rest were tenants.

Vancouver had the highest share of households residing in condos at 30.6%. Toronto was among the top CMAs with 20.9% of households living in a condo.

With supply remaining low and demand for homeownership strong, it looks like condo development won’t be slowing down any time soon!