Parental money is holding our housing market together.
Thirty-one per cent of first-time homebuyers get financial help from their parents or other family members and the average amount given is $115,000, a recent note from CIBC Capital Markets says. Housing has slowed lately as a result of persistently high prices and mortgage rates. Imagine where we’d be if not for the parents of the nation.
“Homebuyers relying on a wealth transfer from their parents in order to purchase a home is becoming the norm in Canada,” the CIBC note says.
CIBC says the percentage of first-time buyers received parental gifts of money is up from 20 per cent in 2015 and relatively flat in recent years. But as home prices increased in recent years, parents dug deeper. The dollar amount of down payment gifts has risen 73 per cent from the 2019 level, CIBC said.
The parental hand can be seen in move-up buying as well as first-time purchases. CIBC said 12 per cent of buyers moving to a bigger home get parental help, with the average amount of $167,000.
The CIBC report notes that the benchmark home price in Canada is down 14 per cent from the COVID-era peak, but still 33 per cent above pre-COVID levels. CIBC speculates that the increased amount of gifting is fuelled by parents who are downsizing their family homes and freeing up funds.
B.C. and Ontario parents give the most, with average gifts of $204,000 and $128,000, respectively. Another sign of parents working harder in these expensive provincial housing markets is that 36 per cent of first-time buyers receive gifts for a down payment.
Parental money is helping to sustain the housing market at a time of high unaffordability. But, as CIBC notes, it also contributes to a widening wealth gap. It’s hard to compete as a buyer against someone who has a $115,000 head start in building a down payment.
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