Calgary young adults own more homes than the rest of Canada’s millennials—survey

Contributing factors are Calgary’s relative affordability and millennials’ decisiveness

Calgary young adults own more homes than the rest of Canada’s millennials—survey
Young home owners in Calgary possess more real estate than millennials in the rest of Canada, according to a Royal LePage survey that looked at the current state of the young adult demographic’s participation in the housing industry.

Local real estate professionals backed up the veracity of the study’s findings. East Village broker Lisa Mundell said that one of Calgary’s top draws among millennial would-be buyers is the enviable affordability of available supply in the downtown area, which is standing in marked contrast to the elevated prices in red-hot markets such as Toronto or Vancouver.

“Here they’re in [the] oil industry and tech, and they’re all downtown, so it’s affordable (housing wise) downtown — whereas in Vancouver or Toronto, you’re paying $1,200 a square foot,” Mundell told CBC News. “Calgary condos in the East Village are going for about half that.”

Mundell added that among her clientele, millennials have proven to be the most decisive about what they want for their eventual abodes.

“They don’t want to waste their money renting,” Mundell explained. “They’re living at home a little bit longer — so we’re seeing our first buyers are sort of [in] that 23, 25 [year-old range].”

“We’re [also] seeing people in their 30s that want to travel more and not be house poor and have a life,” she said.


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