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Living in a parent’s basement might be the only affordable option for first–time home buyers.  

Housing prices in Windsor Essex have increased as much as 17 per cent this year. The average price of a home in Windsor is more than $420,000. A first–time down payment of five per cent would be $21,000. For a young person making minimum wage that could take years to save, sources say.  

“It’s like a bubble burst happening,” said Mark Sadowski, professor, about the current housing market. “Whatever you think they are worth is what they are worth.” 

Sadowski has taught several classes at different colleges and universities for the past 20 years. He teaches students about budgeting and different types of incomes in his classes.

“The amount of people buying houses is more than the number of houses,” Sadowski said. 

Sadowski teaches some classes on budgeting and gives his advice. He said that a good first home would be a duplex, so you can rent out the other apartment. 

“The biggest thing I tell students, start young,” Sadowski said. “People get into habits when they are young.” 

Sadowski explained that if you make $20,000 a year and spend $19,000 of it, those habits will stick with you. When you start to make more money, you will spend more money. 

Not only are housing prices rising but so is the cost to rent. Rent has increased over eight per cent in the past year. 

According to The Royal Bank of Canada, your living expenses should not be more than 30 to 32 per cent of your gross income. For someone who is only making minimum wage, their budget for housing expenses should only be $8,100 per year. That would be $675 a month.  

The average living expenses in Windsor are $1,480 a month according to website costof.live.com. Even if you had a roommate or living your partner, you would still be living past what RBC suggests you allocate. 

“My best advice is to always get your pre-approval done before you start looking so you know what your budget is,” said Alyssa Ismail, real estate agent. “Also make sure you have the money set aside for your down payment, closing costs and deposit.” 

Ismail has been a real estate agent for six years now.  

“I always educate my buyers about what the market is currently doing, let’s say the average list to sale ratio to help manage their expectations,” said Ismail. “Typically, you need to have a decent budget these days to be able to compete in the marketplace because of the influx of buyers and the lack of inventory available.”  

Having a good budget can be difficult if you do not know where to start or how to budget, students say.  

Students say that in high school they should be taught more useful skills like budgeting and how to do taxes, instead of some of the math concepts they teach currently.  

Emma Beecroft, 18, is trying to move out of her family home.  

“I work around 25 hours a week normally but because of lockdown my hours have been cut,” said Beecroft. 

Beecroft said it is more difficult to develop a budget with the recent provincial lockdown. 

“There is not really a lot of affordable housing in my city,” said Beecroft. “A lot of apartments for rent don’t really consider university students in prices and if they are cheaper, it is either in a bad neighborhood or the apartment itself is really run down.” 

Not only are young people struggling with living expenses and budgeting, but so are seniors.  

In Canada, a study showed that 19 per cent of seniors are working longer so they can remain in their current homes.