Rich, Aging Boomers Poised to Keep Millennials Out of Housing

(Bloomberg) -- A growing cohort of rich, aging baby boomers will contribute to even tighter housing supply for younger generations in Toronto over the next decade, according to a new report.

Seniors have traditionally downsized or switched to rentals and retirement homes, which has freed up supply for younger homeowners. Rising employment and income among older generations along with growing social-support services has turned that trend on its head, the Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp. said in report Thursday.

“Rising home-ownership rate among seniors may continue, which will translate into less supply being freed up for younger generations,” the country’s housing agency said.

A quarter of homes in Toronto were owned by seniors age 65 and over in 2016, up 4.5 percentage points from 2006, the CMHC said. The share of townhouses owned by seniors reached 17% from 12% over the same period.

Like other parts of the world, the ranks of seniors in Toronto is growing. Average yearly population growth for the segment will be about 4% over the next decade, bringing the share of seniors in Toronto to 18% by 2026 from 14% in 2016, according to the Ontario Ministry of Finance.

To contact the reporter on this story: Natalie Wong in Toronto at nwong133@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Debarati Roy at droy5@bloomberg.net, ;Jacqueline Thorpe at jthorpe23@bloomberg.net, Steven Frank

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