Homebuyer characteristics
To better understand vulnerabilities associated with different types of mortgaged homebuyers, we analyze their demographic and financial characteristics.
Starting with age, we see that first-time home buyers tend to be significantly younger than other types of homebuyers (Chart 6, panel a). Their median age is 36 years, compared with around 50 years for other types of homebuyers. The income distributions of the different types of homebuyer also reflect these life-cycle differences (Chart 6, panel b).
Turning to measures of financial vulnerability, we see that first-time homebuyers also tend to have the highest loan-to-income ratios at the time of mortgage origination (Chart 6, panel c). As a result, they greatly influence the total share of new mortgages with loan-to-income ratios above 450%—a key metric the Bank of Canada uses to monitor the…
