Monthly Down Payment Monitor - August 2024

When mortgage rates are high, 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 — August 2024

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

Province	Average Sale Price June 2024	Minimum Down Payment Required	20% Down Payment
B.C.	$959,480	$70,948	$191,896
Alberta	$493,549	$24,677	$98,710
Saskatchewan	$326,116	$16,306	$65,223
Manitoba	$376,770	$18,839	$75,354
Ontario	$837,685	$58,769	$167,537
Quebec	$502,696	$25,270	$100,539
New Brunswick	$335,821	$16,791	$67,164
Nova Scotia	$454,376	$22,719	$90,875
PEI	$384,983	$19,249	$76,997
Newfoundland	$325,243	$16,262	$65,049

Regional highlight: Alberta

Alberta’s been Canada’s steadiest housing markets this year. Let’s take a look at what increased demand has done to the down payment requirements for prospective home buyers there. The figures below are based on July home sales data from the Alberta Real Estate Association.

You’ll note that 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.

Calgary

Median detached home price: $563,500
Minimum down payment required: $31,350

Median condo price: $319,500
Minimum down payment required: $15,975

Edmonton

Average detached home price: $547,486
Minimum down payment required: $29,749

Average condo price: $200,030
Minimum down payment required: $10,002

Red Deer

Average detached home price: $428,713
Minimum down payment required: $21,436

Average condo price: $210,078
Minimum down payment required: $10,504

Medicine Hat

Average detached home price: $396,748
Minimum down payment required: $19,837

Average condo price: $197,302
Minimum down payment required: $9,865

Down payment savings tip: Put your money to work

One of the frustrating things about saving a down payment is that you’re aiming at a moving target. As home prices increase, so does the amount you have to put down, so it’s natural to feel pressured to save more over a shorter period of time.

One way to increase how quickly your down payment grows is to invest your savings and chase a higher rate of return than you’d likely get from a high interest savings account.

A guaranteed investment certificate (GIC), for example, could allow you to earn close to 5% on your savings. That’s higher than some of the best high interest savings accounts’ (HISAs) non-promotional interest rates.

Netting an even bigger return means taking on more risk, which you can do by purchasing investments through a tax-free savings account (TFSA) or a First Home Savings Account (FHSA). In both cases, your investment earnings are tax-free.

FHSA contributions are tax-deductible, too, so adding to your FHSA — even if you don’t purchase any investments — could help you score a larger tax refund. You can funnel that windfall back into your FHSA and boost your down payment savings even further.

Prudent investing can give your down payment a real lift, but August’s stock market roller-coaster ride was a reminder of just how risky investing can be. Don’t invest anything you can’t afford to lose. If that means sticking to a GIC or HISA, there’s nothing wrong with that.

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.