One third of Canadian households are renters. And although it’s a common belief that older people are big on property ownership, a key part of the renting pool are Gen Xers and boomers.
One in five Canadian individuals over the age of 55 are renters, according to his analysis. In Victoria, 40 per cent of that age group are renters. Montreal leads the way with 47 per cent, and in more affordable housing markets like Calgary and Edmonton, it’s only 16 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively.Royal LePage released a report on renters this month and asked respondents whether they had tried to purchase before signing a rental lease. In B.C.
“Then there’s the group that needs the capital to live on, so they turn it into a liquid asset for vacations – or maybe even food. But now that the oldest boomers are 78 years old, the move toward renting will only grow. And their needs are different from millennial needs. People who’ve accumulated a lot of wealth can afford to pay rents of around $5.50 or $5.75 per square foot.“Renting does offer a certain amount of appeal to the more mature renter. And it’s not because they need to rent; they want to,” he says. “Many of them they have built up equity in their single-family home or we have heard of instances where they rent out their single-family home in the suburbs, and they rent to be closer.