In the first year of the pandemic, the number of first-time homebuyers in Vancouver increased by 51 per cent over a two-year period, driven by the ultralow interest rate.
There were 1,530 first-time purchasers in 2018 and by the end of 2020, there were 2,315, according to Canadian Housing Statistics Program data analyzed by Prof. Andy Yan, director of Simon Fraser University’s City Program.
The harder part for policy-makers is drawing those first-time buyers into a higher interest rate market through government incentives. Policies are often ineffectual when confronted with the barrier of high prices, particularly in Vancouver.
“You can see in this data what is most likely the
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