First time home buyers

The government will also begin allowing mortgage default insurance on homes worth up to C$1.5 million ($1.1 million), an increase from the current cap of C$1 million.

The credit scoring agency will provide an education curriculum to a leading minority trade group, aimed at helping mortgage professionals learn more about financial wellness and help their potential clients attain homeownership.

However, a significant minority, more than one-in-10, stated although they want to buy, they will never be able to afford to do so, Insurify found.

Across the country over the past two years, the share of homes affordable to a first-time home buyer has fallen to 29% from 34% in 1Q23 and 45% in 1Q22, First American Financial said.

The sales pace is now at the low end of the range seen over the past year, suggesting limited momentum amid a lack of affordability.

Federal Housing Administration-backed lending was the only mortgage type to grow in volume at the end of last year, but the pace of decline among originations overall also slowed.

Affordability challenges also have some aspiring homeowners taking second jobs or looking to draw from retirement savings, according to Redfin.

The racial gap in first-time buyers' ability to maintain their status as owners has also narrowed over the last two decades, the agency's researchers reported.

The top 3 cities have an average median listing price of $217,967.

Timothy Harleth is launching Generational Equity Labs, a fund that plans to use a technology platform linking would-be homebuyers to institutions to support equity sharing.