Birch Cliff is changing. Whether you’re walking the dog or taking the kids to school you cannot help but notice there are more younger faces in the neighbourhood.
Whether you’ve lived here for 40 years, 20 years or one year there is one thing many of us have in common — we came to Birch Cliff looking to buy our very first home.
What I want to share with you is a snapshot of the new buyers in Birch Cliff. Recently, Genworth Canada published their 2015 First-Time Homeownership Study with some incredible statistical data on new home buyers in Canada.
For those of you unfamiliar with Genworth, they are Canada’s largest private residential mortgage insurer.
What they do is provide mortgage default insurance to lenders to cover those mostly first time home buyers who are putting less than 20% down on purchasing a home.
Here is what they found.
It’s probably no surprise that 3/4 of first-time buyers are Millennials (those 34 years or younger).
But who are these new millennial homeowners?
- 80% are Canadian born
- 12% immigrated to Canada in the last 10 years
- 73% were renting before buying their first home
- 62% purchased with a partner
- 42% already have a family with 34% expecting to start one within five years
- 89% have a post-secondary degree (including College and University)
- 35% purchased on their own without the assistance of a relative
That tells us who they are, but let’s dig deeper on what they are buying here in Toronto:
- the median cost is $425,000
- 28% buying a detached homes
- 39% a townhouse
- 19% a condominium
Finances are always a driving factor in any decision when purchasing a home and Genworth found that Millennials have a unique attitude towards money:
- 63% put down payment of less than 20%
- 51% have a household income between $50,000 – $99,000
- 23% have a household income between $100,000 – $149,000
- 57% have not taken on any additional debt since buying their home
- 1/3 of first time home buyers are taking advantage of either doubling up or making a larger one sum payment in order to pay their mortgage off faster.
However there is one common characteristic we all share when we make a decision to buy a home in Birch Cliff — we all want a safe neighbourhood that’s close to work.
It’s funny in a time of constant change how some things just remain the same.
Let’s take a look now at the latest housing statistics for Birchcliff/Cliffside.
Birch Cliff – Cliffside Home Sales in June 2016 – 36 homes sold
Birchcliff/Cliffside
- In June of last year 39 homes sold and in June of this year it was 36
- June 2015 our neighbourhood average sold price was $791,210 and in June 2016 there was a very slight jump to $798,837 – a 1% increase
- Last June it took 13 days on average to sell a home and in June 2016 in took 11 days
Toronto Real Estate Board
- June 2015 there were 11,905 sales and in June 2016 there were12,794 sales – Up 7.5%
- In June last year the average selling price was $639,309 and in June 2016 it was $746,546 – Up 16.8%
- Last year it took 19 days on average to sell a home and this past June only 15days
Birch Cliff – Cliffside Home Sales in July 2016 – 36 homes sold
Birchcliff/Cliffside
- In July 2015, 28 homes sold and in July 2016 only 20
- July last year the average selling price was $758,725 and in July 2016 it was $831,279 – an increase of 9%
- In July 2015 it took an average of 20 days for a home to sell and this past July 19 days
Toronto Real Estate Board
- 9,813 homes sold in July 2015 and 9,969 in July of this year – Up a mere 1.8%
- In July 2015 the average sold price was $608,875 and in July 2016 $709,825 – Up 16.6%
- July 2015 it took an average of 22 days for a home to sell while in July of this year only 16 days.
Birch Cliff – Cliffside Home Sales in August 2016 – 18 homes sold
Birchcliff/Cliffside
- August 2015, 21 homes sold and August 2016, 18 sold
- August 2015 our neighbourhood average sold price was $658,161 while August of this year the average sold price came in at $731,461 – an increase of 11%
- In August of last year it took an average of 14 days to sell a home while only 12 days in August 2016
Toronto Real Estate Board
- 7,943 sales in August 2015 with August 2016 showing 9,813 sales – Up by 23.5%
- $603,534 was the average selling price last August with August 2016 coming in at $710,410 – Up by 17.7%
- August 2015 it took an average of 23 days to sell a home while in August 2016 it was 18 days
