Pensionize Your Nest Egg.While ballooning home prices potentially unlock additional home equity for homeowners, they can lock young people out of the housing market, according to Macqueen.“What stops people, mostly, is the lack of the down payment,” she says.In Toronto, for example, a dual-earner couple with a combined annual income of $200,000 may well be able to comfortably afford mortgage payments on an average-priced home.
The real hurdle is saving to put enough money down, Macqueen adds.Data from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board show the average price of a detached home in the Greater Toronto Area was $1.17 million in December, up nearly 23 per cent from a year ago, and requiring more than $230,000 in cash for a 20 per cent down.