Has access to property become only a hope? In Quebec, nearly three-quarters of non-homeowners have given up on the dream of one day having their own home, according to a recent Ipsos poll conducted for Global News. The duty collected stories of potential buyers who continue, somehow, to hope to get the keys to their dream home. Third meeting: Philippe and Jessica, who are looking for a cocoon for the day — which they hope will be close — when they will have a child.
Philippe and Jessica cherish the dream of being parents. For some time they have been trying to have a child through medically assisted procreation. Despite unsuccessful attempts so far, the couple does not give up.
They are even thinking, at the same time, of finding a new roof – and anticipate that they will need space for a child’s room.
“Right now, we live in an apartment in Hochelaga for $1,300 a month,” says Philippe. “Jessica is working from home three days a week. Me, it depends, but it often happens to me to be. So, if we have a child, not only do we need a sleeping area, but also spaces to work. Preferably somewhere other than the kitchen table…” he explains.
Taxes and other fees
They haven’t yet taken steps for a pre-approved mortgage and therefore do not have a precise idea of the budget available to them, but the couple would have a down payment of around $80,000, which would represent 20% of the price. of a $400,000 condo.
With a 25-year loan and an interest rate of around 4 or 5%, this amount represents monthly mortgage payments between $1,700 and $1,800. “It’s already quite a bit more than what we are paying at the moment”, worries Philippe. “And that would be without counting the taxes, the other costs, and the fact that at $400,000, it would surely be too small,” he assesses. According to data from the Centris platform obtained by The dutyin the borough of Ville-Marie, where Philippe and Jessica would like to settle, the average selling price of a condo was more than $575,000 between January and March 2022.
Prices for this same type of property were slightly lower in Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie (more than $490,000), in Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension (about $465,000) and in Mercier–Hochelaga- Maisonneuve (over $410,000), three boroughs they also covet.
“Sometimes we wonder if we wouldn’t do better to go to the regions,” adds Jessica. But it would be a big life changer. »
put down roots
“I always told myself that I would have a property of my own one day… But is it a dream? I don’t know if I would say that! Frankly admits Philippe.
“For me, yes, it would be a dream,” says Jessica. “Having grown up with a single mother, self-employed, who has always lived in a rental and who just bought her first house two years ago, I would like to have a place where I can have my roots…” confides she.
There’s also the whole security aspect of having your own place — a priority for aspiring parents. “Even if, on our side, things are going well with our current owners, we hear all these scary stories of housing repossessions. No matter how hard we try to settle down and build our lives somewhere, renting it out, it’s still difficult when you know that you’re at the mercy of an owner, ”underlines Philippe.
The rare pearl
The young couple continues to watch online ads in the hope of finding the rare pearl. But for the moment, they think they will stay as tenants, because the market does not seem to them to be “accessible”.
What if the baby comes? They will adapt to their accommodation, because becoming parents remains their priority.
“We continue to try to save in the meantime. But our fear is that we have the impression that we will never save fast enough to catch up with the increase in real estate prices,” laments Philippe.
With Laurianne Croteau