House prices and the economy

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The average cost of a mid sized house in Toronto is now approaching $650,000, or more than half a million dollars. Realistically with this price amount, it would take someone earning an average wage (45,000) probably more than 40 years to pay off their mortgage with a minimum down payment.

There are cities of Canada where houses are cheaper - say Montreal, or Ottawa, or Winnipeg. Calgary and Edmonton are expensive almost comparable to Toronto. Vancouver is even more expensive.

I talk to some older guys at work and they tell me in their time it only took 5 years or so to pay off a house on a regular salary. Some of them even said you could save up enough money to just pay for a house in one shot.

My question is if houses have always taken this long to pay off? And do you think it's actually worth 40 years of work to own a house? Do you think this is indicative of quality of life in the West is declining? Do some of you think the economy will eventually collapse here in North America?
 

whiteathlete33

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The average cost of a mid sized house in Toronto is now approaching $650,000, or more than half a million dollars. Realistically with this price amount, it would take someone earning an average wage (45,000) probably more than 40 years to pay off their mortgage with a minimum down payment.

There are cities of Canada where houses are cheaper - say Montreal, or Ottawa, or Winnipeg. Calgary and Edmonton are expensive almost comparable to Toronto. Vancouver is even more expensive.

I talk to some older guys at work and they tell me in their time it only took 5 years or so to pay off a house on a regular salary. Some of them even said you could save up enough money to just pay for a house in one shot.

My question is if houses have always taken this long to pay off? And do you think it's actually worth 40 years of work to own a house? Do you think this is indicative of quality of life in the West is declining? Do some of you think the economy will eventually collapse here in North America?
Pretty simple BS2, do not buy! If I dont buy it cash, I don't buy!
 
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Pretty simple BS2, do not buy! If I dont buy it cash, I don't buy!

Oh yea, I mean this post is not about me personally. I'm not planning on buying a house any time soon.

However, I see a lot of people (friends, coworkers) taking on a mortgage and I'm just wondering if that's a good idea? Understand that it takes these people an awful long time to pay it off. In the example I gave in Toronto, it would take a man earning an average salary basically his whole working life to pay off the house. In other cities, its cheaper, like Montreal but even there youre talking a mortgage that would take 15 or even 20 years to actually pay off.

I'm wondering if it was always like this? The impression I get is that in the past it was easier to obtain a house and it would not be such a large investment.

If this is true I'd say it absolutely represents a sharp decline in the quality of life here.
 
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http://m.thestar.com/#/article/busi...age-house-price-hits-1052-million-record.html

According to that article the average home costs 640,000$ in Toronto.

Condos and townhouses are around 500,000 and a detached home is more than 1,000,000 on average.

With these kind of prices owning a home in Toronto is out of reach of someone making an average salary. The same can be said of Vancouver, and perhaps even Calgary, Edmonton.

But then why do so many people take on these mortgages? Do people really think it's worth it to work your whole life to pay off a house? Have houses always taken this many years to buy (I think not because I've talked with older guys who told me it was a lot easier to buy a house when they were young).
 
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Westside

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The average cost of a mid sized house in Toronto is now approaching $650,000, or more than half a million dollars. Realistically with this price amount, it would take someone earning an average wage (45,000) probably more than 40 years to pay off their mortgage with a minimum down payment.

There are cities of Canada where houses are cheaper - say Montreal, or Ottawa, or Winnipeg. Calgary and Edmonton are expensive almost comparable to Toronto. Vancouver is even more expensive.

I talk to some older guys at work and they tell me in their time it only took 5 years or so to pay off a house on a regular salary. Some of them even said you could save up enough money to just pay for a house in one shot.

My question is if houses have always taken this long to pay off? And do you think it's actually worth 40 years of work to own a house? Do you think this is indicative of quality of life in the West is declining? Do some of you think the economy will eventually collapse here in North America?
BS2 where I live in CA a medium size house in a great neighborhood is exactly around 650.00. I bought my home in 1997 for 170.00. Through the years I took some equity out of it. In four years it will be paid off. Here in Amerika, you can still write off the interest of the mortgage from your taxes. So buying a home is still a good investment and a foundation to accumulating wealth. I still love where I live, however, in 4 years, I will rent out my home and buy another bigger home with a pool and other amenities that befit my winner lifestyle. LOL did not mean to sound like the total winner that is Trump.
 

whiteathlete33

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Oh yea, I mean this post is not about me personally. I'm not planning on buying a house any time soon.

However, I see a lot of people (friends, coworkers) taking on a mortgage and I'm just wondering if that's a good idea? Understand that it takes these people an awful long time to pay it off. In the example I gave in Toronto, it would take a man earning an average salary basically his whole working life to pay off the house. In other cities, its cheaper, like Montreal but even there youre talking a mortgage that would take 15 or even 20 years to actually pay off.

I'm wondering if it was always like this? The impression I get is that in the past it was easier to obtain a house and it would not be such a large investment.

If this is true I'd say it absolutely represents a sharp decline in the quality of life here.

I will be building a new home this spring and knocking down the current one I live in. It will cost me around 350,000 dollars but I will get 20,000 a year in rent back. Yes, it was clearly easier 20-30 years ago to buy a home.
 

Westside

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BS2 I got in while the market was reasonable. A married couple with good dual incomes could take on the prices you speak of, but for a single chap like you, I would not recommend it unless you make around 100K.
 

Charles Martel

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Immigration drives up the price of housing and rent.

Economics 101: when demand increases, price goes up.
 

Don Wassall

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People take on huge 30 year mortgages because they are conformists. Same reason many men still get married when marriage is a failed institution in the USSA. Their peer group does it, their parents and grandparents did it, and so do they, although thankfully not as many as before.

If you can't pay cash for a house, make the biggest down payment you can as that way you start off with a lot of equity in it and less of a mortgage to pay off. Mortgages will likely never again be as cheap as they are now when interest rates finally begin to rise.

Once a house is paid off you can always rent it out while you upgrade (if you've been saving money all along). That way you have a valuable asset that you can always sell if you want, which in the meantime is an additional source of income.

A paid off home is always a great asset to have if you decide to ex-pat temporarily or permanently, or just want to do a lot of traveling and moving around.
 

whiteathlete33

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People take on huge 30 year mortgages because they are conformists. Same reason many men still get married when marriage is a failed institution in the USSA. Their peer group does it, their parents and grandparents did it, and so do they, although thankfully not as many as before.

If you can't pay cash for a house, make the biggest down payment you can as that way you start off with a lot of equity in it and less of a mortgage to pay off. Mortgages will likely never again be as cheap as they are now when interest rates finally begin to rise.

Once a house is paid off you can always rent it out while you upgrade (if you've been saving money all along). That way you have a valuable asset that you can always sell if you want, which in the meantime is an additional source of income.

A paid off home is always a great asset to have if you decide to ex-pat temporarily or permanently, or just want to do a lot of traveling and moving around.

Good points Don! That's why I am paying cash for this new home. If I took a loan I would be paying it off until I am in my 60s. Also, I am not a big fan of having tenants as they damage the home and some are just terrible people but I have no choice but to build a two family. My taxes will be at least 10,000 a year.
 

f3d0r

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Im going to invest in stocks, but im holding back as my gut feeling is there is going to be a collapse bigger than 2008. But anyhow i digress.

Ive got a big mortgage, but i make overpayments every month which should see. You should def get a property, save up for a deposit. Buy a house because yoy like it and the area. That should be always priority. Hoewver rentings dead money.

Say you buy a house for 200 000 dollas, you pay off the mortgage and irs now only worth 190000, sure thats crap, however thats still 190000 dollas you will get.

Renting is dead money, you are building zero wealth.

What ive learnt is investing earns you money, your salary merely keeps you alive. Whether investing in good savings accounts(hard to find at the money with the laughble interest rates), house or shares. Overtime your money grows without you having to slave for it.
 

Thrashen

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The average cost of a mid sized house in Toronto is now approaching $650,000, or more than half a million dollars. Realistically with this price amount, it would take someone earning an average wage (45,000) probably more than 40 years to pay off their mortgage with a minimum down payment.

There are cities of Canada where houses are cheaper - say Montreal, or Ottawa, or Winnipeg. Calgary and Edmonton are expensive almost comparable to Toronto. Vancouver is even more expensive.

I talk to some older guys at work and they tell me in their time it only took 5 years or so to pay off a house on a regular salary. Some of them even said you could save up enough money to just pay for a house in one shot.

My question is if houses have always taken this long to pay off? And do you think it's actually worth 40 years of work to own a house? Do you think this is indicative of quality of life in the West is declining? Do some of you think the economy will eventually collapse here in North America?

My wife watches shows on “DIY Networkâ€￾ and “HGTVâ€￾ (both of which are filmed in Canada) and your estimate of the ridiculously-high purchase prices of homes in Canadian cities seems absolutely accurate. A sad comparison…for $650,000 - $1,000,000, you could purchase or build a decadent mansion with 50-100 acres of pristine land in my 100% white area of PA. In Canada, it buys you a 2 bedroom condo in multiculti hell. My advice would be to purchase a much cheaper home in a more suburban/rural area well outside of the cities and commute longer to work.

A far as your concern about “40 years to pay it off,â€￾ well, that’s all relative to purchase price, down payment, loan amount, salary, property taxes, and your commitment to becoming debt-free. You mentioned in multiple threads that you purchased a brand new car and were looking into buying an expensive sports car. These sorts of decisions are how white people who make a decent living manage to remain in debt forever.

The borrower is slave to the lender and it bothered me immensely to know that until my house was paid off, some Jew at some corporate bank was the REAL owner of something I worked my entire life to have.

My house (30-year old bi-level on 9 acres), was around $200,000 and I financed about $130,000 originally. For 5 grueling years, I paid the monthly mortgage/taxes/escrow/insurance bill, and would then pay $1,000 extra each month on the principal of the loan. I was able to do it because I had no other debt aside from electric/internet/TV/phone, but my wife (who works 2 days a week) mostly paid those from her salary. Aside from my actual job (civil engineer/surveyor), I would also make a few thousand per year selling eggs, firewood, tree removal, and doing automotive repairs.
 

white is right

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The average cost of a mid sized house in Toronto is now approaching $650,000, or more than half a million dollars. Realistically with this price amount, it would take someone earning an average wage (45,000) probably more than 40 years to pay off their mortgage with a minimum down payment.

There are cities of Canada where houses are cheaper - say Montreal, or Ottawa, or Winnipeg. Calgary and Edmonton are expensive almost comparable to Toronto. Vancouver is even more expensive.

I talk to some older guys at work and they tell me in their time it only took 5 years or so to pay off a house on a regular salary. Some of them even said you could save up enough money to just pay for a house in one shot.

My question is if houses have always taken this long to pay off? And do you think it's actually worth 40 years of work to own a house? Do you think this is indicative of quality of life in the West is declining? Do some of you think the economy will eventually collapse here in North America?
 

white is right

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If you are in Calgary wait until the end of this year or later to put a down payment on a house. The market is due for a big correction and prices should slide down much more significantly than they have.

I read prices have only dropped 2 percent but the natural resources industry is "dead" at 30 US a barrel, so there should be either houses for sale or being sold by auction for much cheaper prices maybe up to 40 percent if the prices stay the same.
 

Deus Vult

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You're going to live somewhere, over the next 30 years, 40 years, or perhaps longer. A 30 year mortgage only takes 30 years to payoff if you make only the minimum monthly payment x 360. It doesn't mean you have to make a 30 year commitment to a particular property. Many young people, especially young families, buy a "starter" house, live in it for 3-6 years, and by the time they are ready to buy a better property, the equity built from the first home goes toward the down payment on the next home. The term of your mortgage does not create any obligation to stay in that same dwelling if opportunity knocks elsewhere (although selling can be hectic and your equity is tied up until you sell).
You can get more house on more land the farther you live from a hub. There are still towns and counties in USA where you can buy a modest-to-nice home and pay it off in a short time. Due to forced integration and HUD's evil forced diversity programs, those places are becoming fewer. Most of us face paying higher prices to be sort of segregated in or near a town, or living farther from jobs and amenities.
Consider property taxes, as they can differ from county to county, inside and outside city/town limits. Consider whether a property utilizes a water well or municipal water system. Consider who your neighbors are, who represents the area in local political officialdom.
 

DWF Upside

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This is one of those tough decisions that could literally blow up on you no matter which route you take. A lot of your choice is specific to your future goals and lifestyle.

My 2 cents would be to buy a modest home in a working class small town white neighborhood. Not sure about Canada but in the states I used a rural development loan and then a va loan on the second house. Hopefully you have something similar to use. These are great for securing a home with low interest and little in closing fees but know that there are fees that are included in the actual mortgage amount.

As mentioned earlier you can always buy a better house later. I wouldn't recommend selling after 3 or 4 years though as there is very little equity built up in that time frame. If you can swing it I'd just rent out the first home and have it as a fall back location in case something bad happens. That's how I did it but there are pros and cons to that as well.

Best of luck, there is no definite right answer. The cost of avoiding diversity is partially why home prices continue to rise in rural areas. Just beware of section 8 housing and rezoning school districts coming into and screwing your home value. If values do plummet just know that you won't be the only one screwed, you will have all types of company.

And to answer your original question it is a lot harder to achieve this present day. Same could be said about entering the job market. I most likely wouldn't have made it in todays environment.
 
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