Monthly Down Payment Monitor: October 2024

When mortgage rates are all anyone talks about, it can be easy to forget just how important a down payment is to home buying success.

Even during the COVID era, when rates were at historic lows, you would have been left out of the feeding frenzy if your down payment savings fell short of the required minimums.

That’s why NerdWallet developed this Monthly Down Payment Monitor: To help Canadian home buyers understand how much they might need to save in order to get approved for a mortgage.

Unlike interest rates, you can control your down payment savings. Once you have an idea of how much you’ll need to put down, you can build a savings strategy around that target amount.

Expect a long, slow process, but every dollar you put away literally gets you closer to owning your own home.

Down payment requirements in Canada: October 2024

The information in the following table is based on Canada’s minimum down payment guidelines and the average sale prices for September 2024 provided by provincial real estate associations.

Province	Average Sale Price September 2024	Minimum Down Payment Required	20% Down Payment
B.C.	$942,969	$69,297	$188,594
Alberta	$498,949	$24,947	$99,790
Saskatchewan	$328,136	$16,407	$65,627
Manitoba	$362,137	$18,107	$72,427
Ontario	$851,478	$60,148	$170,296
Quebec	$509,198	$25,920	$101,840
New Brunswick	$327,182	$16,359	$65,436
Nova Scotia	$439,406	$21,970	$87,881
PEI	$387,436	$19,372	$77,487
Newfoundland	$318,329	$15,916	$63,666

Regional highlight: Saskatchewan

Like Alberta, Saskatchewan has been one of the real estate bright spots of the post-pandemic, high-mortgage rate era. Affordable prices are a major factor, as is an undersupplied rental market that’s making the province an attractive option for investors.

Real estate boards sometimes use different measurements when analyzing their data, like average price, median price and benchmark price. (We explain the differences below.) For now, just focus on those minimum down payment numbers.

Regina

Average detached home price: $376,001
Minimum down payment required: $18,800

Average condo price: $206,069
Minimum down payment required: $10,303

Saskatoon

Average detached home price: $464,949
Minimum down payment required: $23,247

Average condo price: $281,286
Minimum down payment required: $14,064

Prince Albert

Average detached home price: $241,337
Minimum down payment required: $12,067

Average condo price: $221,633
Minimum down payment required: $11,082

Moose Jaw

Average detached home price: $283,377
Minimum down payment required: $14,169

Average condo price: $230,950
Minimum down payment required: $11,548

Down payment savings tip: Don’t forget the closing costs

Saving a down payment is such an accomplishment that it feels a little sadistic to remind you that you’ll probably also have to pay thousands of dollars in closing costs before you take possession of your home.

Don’t let these costs — legal fees, land transfer and other taxes, GST/HST if you’re buying new construction — catch you off guard. Use a closing costs calculator to ballpark how much you might need to pay and ensure you’re saving for both your down payment and your closing costs.

Having cash on hand to pay closing costs can save you from paying for them with a credit card or a personal loan. You don’t necessarily want to saddle yourself with additional debt just as you’re taking on a new mortgage.

Average price: This is the total sales volume, calculated in dollars, divided by the number of home sales. A monthly average price can be swayed by a few expensive properties, which makes it a somewhat unreliable metric for describing market trends. If three $10 million homes are sold in one month in Toronto, for example, it would increase the average price, but it wouldn’t necessarily mean all prices are rising.

Benchmark price: Benchmark prices are an interesting alternative to average prices. They’re the prices that buyers are expected to pay for a particular property type. Benchmark prices are determined using the Canadian Real Estate Association’s MLS Home Price Index, which is more of a modelling tool than an analysis of what’s actually happening in the market.

Median price: Median price is essentially the mid-point between the lowest- and highest-priced homes sold over a particular period. Half of the homes sold would be more expensive than the median, the other half would be less. It’s difficult to gauge the market using median price since it leaves you wondering how high home prices might be.