Here's how long it takes to save up for a down payment in Ottawa: Report
It would take five months for a single person earning the average income and living in Ottawa to save the down payment to buy a condominium in the capital, according to a report by ZOOCASA.
The report, released on Tuesday, notes that the average income after tax for a single person in Ottawa is around $50,480. It assumes buyers save 100 per cent of their income.
Based on the Government of Canada requirements, the minimum down payment is five per cent for homes priced at $500,000 or less. While the average price of a condo in the capital is around $418,000, the minimum down payment is $20,925, says ZOOCASA.
This puts Ottawa in the middle between the most affordable and the least affordable cities in Canada, according to the report.
Compared to the least affordable cities, it would take 12 months to save for a down payment in Vancouver and 10 months to save for a down payment in Toronto.
Meanwhile, compared to the most affordable cities, it takes 2.1 months to save for a condominiumin Edmonton, with a down payment of $9,005, reads the report.
Though high interest rates and the rising cost of living are making it difficult for everyone to make ends meet, the pinch might be even harder for single people depending on a single income. An Ottawa woman warns against locking yourself into a mortgage you can’t sustain when things go wrong.
Vanessa Hartmann told CTV News Ottawa she has had her life turned upside down and is now facing bankruptcy after purchasing a home two years ago in Jasper, Ont. along the Rideau River only to lose her good paying job after seven months. At the time, the property was listed for $465,000, but Hartmann says she paid $200,000 over the asking price.
"I want people to know that this is a possibility for anybody, you know, an educated hardworking woman like myself is now faced with homelessness," said Hartmann.
With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Katelyn Wilson
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
From essential goods to common stocking stuffers, Trudeau offering Canadians temporary tax relief
Canadians will soon receive a temporary tax break on several items, along with a one-time $250 rebate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
She thought her children just had a cough or fever. A mother shares sons' experience with walking pneumonia
A mother shares with CTVNews.ca her family's health scare as medical experts say cases of the disease and other respiratory illnesses have surged, filling up emergency departments nationwide.
Trump chooses Pam Bondi for attorney general pick after Gaetz withdraws
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump on Thursday named Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, to be U.S. attorney general just hours after his other choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration.
Putin says Russia attacked Ukraine with a new missile that he claims the West can't stop
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday that Moscow has tested a new intermediate-range missile in a strike on Ukraine, and he warned that it could use the weapon against countries that have allowed Kyiv to use their missiles to strike Russia.
Here's a list of items that will be GST/HST-free over the holidays
Canadians won’t have to pay GST on a selection of items this holiday season, the prime minister vowed on Thursday.
A one-of-a-kind Royal Canadian Mint coin sells for more than $1.5M
A rare one-of-a-kind pure gold coin from the Royal Canadian Mint has sold for more than $1.5 million. The 99.99 per cent pure gold coin, named 'The Dance Screen (The Scream Too),' weighs a whopping 10 kilograms and surpassed the previous record for a coin offered at an auction in Canada.
Video shows octopus 'hanging on for dear life' during bomb cyclone off B.C. coast
Humans weren’t the only ones who struggled through the bomb cyclone that formed off the B.C. coast this week, bringing intense winds and choppy seas.
Taylor Swift's motorcade spotted along Toronto's Gardiner Expressway
Taylor Swift is officially back in Toronto for round two. The popstar princess's motorcade was seen driving along the Gardiner Expressway on Thursday afternoon, making its way to the downtown core ahead of night four of ‘The Eras Tour’ at the Rogers Centre.
Service Canada holding back 85K passports amid Canada Post mail strike
Approximately 85,000 new passports are being held back by Service Canada, which stopped mailing them out a week before the nationwide Canada Post strike.