As of this year, 2022, it is forecasted that the annual inflation rate will be around 6.9% (tradingeconomics.com). This yearly inflation rate is double that of last year’s, but it is well over the average inflation rate observed from 1960 to 2021, which was still a whopping 3.8% (worlddata.info).
With many younger generations setting goals of buying a house, the drastic inflation rates have left them wondering how they will be able to afford the same lifestyle that their parents had. We sat down with a Canadian Broker, Christina O’Dea, to gain some insider insight into how these inflation rates affect future home-buyers.
Christina O’Dea has been a realtor for over eight years and a broker for approximately five years. She works for Right at Home Realty and has her team called “The Prestige Home Team.” Due to her years of experience, she has gained the insight needed to observe the effects of rising inflation.
Christina observed that “the market was bustling up until this March due to rate increases and overall inflation.” According to Christina, the biggest struggle she sees for people today that want to buy a home is related to: “increased rates, inflation and cost of living, inability to save for a down payment with the high rent costs, and low wages that aren’t matching the current inflation rates, therefore affecting affordability.”
To avoid these barriers, Christina recommends that aspiring home-buyers live with their parents for as long as possible to save money. She also recommends: “keeping little to no debt,” which she says will “help increase your credit, increase your affordability, and increase your odds of qualifying for more favourable rates.”
For already existing homeowners, Christina highly recommends “creating a second suite within your home for additional income, which can be used to help you qualify for a higher mortgage and offset your current living expenses.”
When asked about government assistance, Christina expressed that she believes that “our government could be incentivizing first-time home buyers with additional credits, extending
assistance to lower-income families to get them into the market, providing incentives to help people create secondary suites in their home, and incentivizing people to keep little to no debt.”
When asked if she sees housing prices dropping anytime soon, Christina mentioned that due to Canada’s increased rates of immigration, she believes that “the demand will continue to outweigh the supply, which will increase prices as we have seen in the past.” She expresses that the main issue is that more people are being brought into a country with an existing housing crisis.
Christina’s final thoughts and observations about the market are that “the cost of living in Canada is out of control. Many people have left for other countries where housing is a fraction of the cost.”
We thank Christina for her insight into the Canadian real estate market and hope her advice can help Canadians better plan for their futures while influencing the government to help more people get into the market.
SOURCES
https://www.rateinflation.com/inflation-rate/canada-historical-inflation-rate/ https://tradingeconomics.com/canada/inflation-cpi
https://www.worlddata.info/america/canada/inflation-rates.php
For more information kindly reach out: christina@prestigehometeam.ca
Author: Isabella Etenberg is based out of Barrie, Ontario and is contributing columnist for the Onside Media. If you have stories to share kindly email: – isabella@theonside.com
