Tuesday, 10 June 2025
By Leahs Mortgages
Leah Zlatkin quoted in the Financial Post: ‘Who is the typical first-time homebuyer in Canada and how much money do they need?’
Leah Zlatkin, a mortgage broker and chief operations officer at Mortgage Outlet Inc. based in Concord, Ont., said first-time homebuyers in the Greater Toronto Area tend to skew older in age compared with those in the Greater Horseshoe Area, or even other provinces such as in the Prairies.
Zlatkin said she often sees first-time buyers in their late twenties to mid-thirties but will occasionally work with younger buyers who are getting financial help from their parents.
“The reason for that is simply that our home prices are quite a bit more expensive,” she said. “People need a little (more time) to save up the money (especially if they) are looking for something a little bit bigger that they can grow into with the family.”
Zlatkin said that with townhouses and semi-detached homes in the GTA starting at at least $800,000, buyers in the area need about $200,000 in income to qualify for these homes.
Toronto residents are also reckoning with a higher cost-of-living in general in the expensive metro, Zlatkin said. “They need to be very strong buyers. … (They) need to be able to support both their lifestyle and (their) mortgage payments.”
