Buying a first home can be difficult for Winnipeggers

Home ownership may be out of reach for many Canadians, and for one Winnipegger, owning one seems like an impossible goal, according to new data from CIBC.

“It's like trying to climb a hill that's too steep,” said 31-year-old Aaron Laferriere.

He has been renting for more than ten years. He wants to own a house one day, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards.

“It's almost impossible to own like the average house you see in the movies or where these people live.”

According to a new CIBC survey, 76 per cent of Canadians who are not yet home feel the same way.

A survey of more than 2,200 Canadians cited overpriced markets and an inability to save for a down payment as the top barriers. Fifty-five percent said they could afford housing only through inheritance or financial help from family.

“Me and most of my friends of my generation, unless you're born into a wealthy family or have a dual income, it seems impossible,” Laferriere said. “It doesn't even seem possible to own a house.”

A CIBC survey found that 48 per cent of Canadians would consider moving outside of major cities to get more bang for their buck, while a quarter of those surveyed said they would consider buying a house with friends.

Royal LePage's quarterly update released this Friday showed the median single-family detached home price in Winnipeg rose 5.9 per cent year-over-year to $431,000.

The federal government has announced a number of housing initiatives ahead of the federal budget. These initiatives include increasing the depreciation period for first-time buyers of new construction homes to 30 years and increasing the amount first-time homebuyers can withdraw from their RRSPs to $60,000.

While in Manitoba, Premier Wab Kinew said his $1,500 Home Owners Tax Credit will save money for Manitobans buying their first home.

“When you start doing the math, you look at the property listing of the house that catches your eye, you manage the monthly costs, a $1,500 difference in the upside is making the dream of home ownership more accessible to more Manitobans,” Kinew said at a news conference Friday.

According to him, the province also intends to increase the supply of housing.

“As a provincial government, we can't change everything overnight, but we will be there to help you buy your first home.”

Laferriere hopes the measures will help, because right now, he said, browsing Winnipeg's home listings is simply frustrating.

“It doesn't seem to be in the cards,” he said.

The CIBC survey was conducted between February 23 and 29, 2024, surveying several different random samples of Canadian homeowners and non-homeowners. The results show a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percent to 8.6 percent.