Zoocasa’s report shows Hamilton-Burlington’s townhouse down payment doubled, hitting $48,130 in 2023 from $22,305 in 2018. Surveying 19 regions, the study highlights varied trends, with cities like Regina experiencing minimal increases, illustrating diverse real estate dynamics. Photo credit: Investment Executive
A recently released report by property technology company and brokerage Zoocasa found that the average down payment for a townhouse in the Hamilton-Burlington region has risen by over $25,000 since 2018.
Zoocasa took the benchmark prices of townhouses in September 2018 and compared that to the prices from September 2023 in order to calculate how much the required down payment has increased during that time.
The report looks at 19 different regions across Canada, with Hamilton and Burlington grouped together.
The benchmark townhouse price in 2018 in Hamilton-Burlington was $446,100, which means that the minimum required down payment at the time would have been $22,305.
However, in just five years, as of September 2023, the benchmark townhouse price has jumped to $731,300, with the minimum required down payment now at $48,130.
That represents a $25,825 increase since 2018, meaning that the minimum required down payment in Hamilton-Burlington has more than doubled.
The other southern Ontario regions measured in the report were Kitchener-Waterloo, Niagara, and London-St. Thomas.
After Hamilton-Burlington, the second highest increase in down payment out of the southern Ontario regions measured is Kitchener-Waterloo.
The benchmark townhouse price in 2018 in Kitchener-Waterloo was $344,700, which means that the minimum required down payment at the time would have been $17,235.
The benchmark price has now jumped to $630,300, with the minimum down payment now at $38,030, an increase of $20,795.
The Niagara region is next highest of the southern Ontario regions with townhouse prices increasing from $365,900 to $616,100 and the down payment increasing by $18,315 from $18,295 to $36,610.
The London-St. Thomas area saw the minimum required down payment increase by $11,785 from $13,385 to $25,170 during the same time frame.
Topping the list of all Canadian cities measured in the report, the down payment in Greater Vancouver has increased by six figures.
The down payment required in Greater Vancouver is $219,680 for a home at the benchmark price which represents a $162,730 increase from 2018.
Although the news is not all bad when it comes to housing affordability.
The report also notes that six cities measured in the report ended up seeing down payment increases of less than $5,000 in the past five years, showing “how varied price growth can be in Canada’s real estate market.”
Those cities are Regina, Edmonton, St. John’s, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, and Quebec City.
Interestingly, the required down payment on a townhouse in Regina only increased by $295 over the past five years, the smallest increase out of all the regions examined in the report.
The minimum downpayment on a benchmark townhouse in Regina went from $11,170 in 2018 to $11,465 in 2023.
In terms of Zoocasa’s methodology, down payment amounts were calculated at five per cent of the purchase price for homes values at $500,000 and under, 10 per cent for home prices between $500,001 and $999,999, and 20 per cent for homes priced at $1 million and over.
Benchmark townhouse prices for the report were sourced from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
