In the freehold market, competition is especially fierce — there are currently more buyers than available stock — creating challenging conditions that Sarah Tassielli, 30, and her fiancé have experienced first-hand. The Toronto resident has rescheduled her wedding due to COVID-19, and is trying to buy a home instead. She and her partner currently live in an apartment downtown that they’ve been renting for four and a half years.
Tassielli says the pandemic is also changing the way her friends are viewing their own wedding plans. Those who got engaged during the pandemic are planning small, intimate weddings and eyeing property sooner than later. They’ve seen how heated the market has become and don’t want to get priced out.is noticing the trend, too.
“That $50,000 or $100,000 [from a wedding] wouldn’t really help if you don’t have that initial down payment,” she says. “One pillar of building wealth is owning real estate,” she says. “If that means all you can afford is a small condo, then just do that so you can get in the market.”a professor of psychology at the University of Waterloo who studies decision making, says moving money from a wedding fund to a house fund makes sense from a behavioural standpoint.