Cost of owning a home far exceeds rentals in Oakville, Burlington, Milton
Published July 13, 2023 at 10:45 am
To no one’s surprise, the cost of owning a home is significantly higher than renting in Oakville, Burlington and Milton.
But just how much more?
Online real estate company Zoocasa crunched the numbers and determined the difference is bigger than you might think.
In Oakville, the average monthly rent is $2,863, while the average monthly mortgage payment is $7,254.
In Burlington, rent is $2,701 while mortgage payments are $5,449 and in Milton, rent is $2,635 and mortgage is $5,161.
And that doesn’t even include the extra costs of owning a property like property taxes.
“While the numbers may suggest renting is the way to go right now, it’s not always that simple,” said Daniel Crook, a Zoocasa specialist.
“Aside from the ability to build up equity in a home you own, it’s important to take into account that mortgage payments are being driven up because of heightened interest rates.”
According to Ratehub.ca a homeowner with a $500,000 mortgage and a 5.75 per cent variable rate will have seen a total increase of about $1,425 per month in mortgage payments since the Bank of Canada began raising rates in March 2022.
As the Bank continues to wrestle with inflation in pursuit of its two per cent inflation target, prospective and current homeowners will have to battle with the fact that mortgage payments will be a little higher for a while.
However, if the Bank hits its target, these payments will decrease in the future for variable rate holders and those renewing their mortgages.
“Rent, however, is not guaranteed to follow the same trajectory. With higher home prices, and, more significantly, a lack of housing supply that is likely to persist for a while, the rental market will benefit from those either priced out or just unable to find a home.”
According to rentals.ca, average asking rents in Canada hit a record high of $2,042 in June, surpassing the previous record set in November 2022 ($2,024) by 0.9 per cent.
The 1.4 per cent increase in rents from May represented the fastest month-over-month increase so far this year, causing the annual rate of rent inflation to accelerate to 7.5 per cent from the 6.5 per cent annual rate recorded in May.
Over the past two years, average asking rents in Canada have increased by 20 pre cent, or by an average of $341.
