Seniors’ Homeownership Rising In Toronto; Could Put Pressure On Prices By Tightening Supply

TORONTO, Ontario — A recent survey by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) details that the homeownership rate for Toronto’s senior households could increase over the next decade, according to employment, income and other trends.

Such a scenario would reduce the supply of family-oriented homes available for other generations, predicts CMHC.

“Our latest Housing Market Insight (HMI) for Toronto looks at data on senior households, from 2006 to 2016. We wanted to know what recent changes in senior households’ economic well-being and demographic characteristics can tell us about their future housing choices,” CMHC said one of its recent publications.

Seniors’ homeownership rate has increased since 2006
Between 2006 and 2016, the share of Toronto-area homes, owned by senior households, increased by 4.5 percentage points, reaching 25 percent. Townhomes were the housing type that showed the highest increase. In 2006, 11.5 percent were owned by seniors. In 2016, the figure was 17 percent.

Some more highlights from HMI, between the 2006 and 2016 period included:

• Increases in seniors’ labour force participation resulted in greater income growth for their age group.
• The income difference between renter and homeowner senior households widened further. In 2016, the gap between their median incomes reached 130.4 percent.
• The proportion of senior renter households in core housing need, edged lower. Still, it remained well above the proportion recorded for younger renter households.
• More seniors took debt into their retirement in 2016, compared to a decade before. However, seniors also had a much greater increase in net worth, compared to younger generations.
• Stronger income and wealth growth provided senior households with access to a greater array of housing choices.

Rising homeownership could put a squeeze on supply
Historically, seniors have played a valuable role on the housing market by downsizing as they get older. In doing so, they free up family-oriented homes for younger households.

From 2006 to 2016, though, economic and demographic factors have caused seniors to decide, increasingly, to remain in their homes longer. This trend of rising homeownership among seniors may well continue into the future.

If it does, it could put pressure on supply, since there may be fewer dwellings than expected available for younger households.