"Right now, the housing crisis is in full swing. So, move past it."
Instead of gunning for homeownership, Canadians are urged to settle on rent and invest their excess capital elsewhere.
According to RBC Economics, housing affordability in Canada was at its worst level in three decades at the end of 2021. Further research from the National Bank of Canada revealed a typical Canadian household has to spend almost half its income on a mortgage to buy a house.
Read next: Could rent-to-own offer a solution for Canada’s affordability crisis?
In an article published by The Motley Fool, contributor Amy Legate-Wolfe explained that renting can be beneficial in the long run, especially now when the housing market isn’t looking too good for anyone: “Right now, the housing crisis is in full swing. So, move past it.”
Without the burden of down payment, mortgage, and other property fees, Legate-Wolfie said Canadians are free to pour income and savings into homeownership outside Canadian borders.
Read more: Poll: Home ownership not an ideal step right now
At present, the average price of a home in Canada is around $816,000 – and the figures are much higher for major cities like Toronto and Vancouver. Meanwhile, an aspiring homeowner will only need half that amount - at $450,000 - to buy a house in England and $375,900 in the US.
“By buying outside Canada, you’ve turned a 20% down payment of $163,200 into $90,000 instead,” Legate-Wolfe wrote. “You can lock into another source of interest rates. You have a lucrative source of income that provides you with a cushion should anything happen with your day job. And you’ve decided to get over the fact that renting is a stigma – one that most of the world has already moved past.”
