First-time buyers holding their own

New article with some interesting stats on first-time buyers. Buying a home has never been easier and more affordable, with the Ontario government expanding the Land Transfer Tax rebate for first-timers (up to $2000, which covers a purchase price of $227,500 or less). The former program was solely for new home purchases, but now covers all purchases (specifically existing properties). Mortgages are also being offered with more attractive premiums for unconvential mortgages (20% down as opposed to 25%), longer amortizations (30, 35, 40), and zero down options all make buying a home considerably easier. The last 4 properties I've sold have been to first-time buyers.
Incidentally, Kingston's price per square foot currently resides somewhere in the $160/psf range for new homes.

Despite years of escalating house prices across Canada, first-timer buyers are successfully financing and buying homes that meet their needs, says a national survey by Century 21 Canada brokers.
Don Lawby, president of Century 21 Canada, says first-time buyers have maintained their presence in the housing market by combining innovative buying and financing strategies with practical compromises.
“First-time buyers often enter the market with an unrealistic list of expectations, but soon find they need to decide on a smaller house or accept a longer commute time,” says Lawby. Once they choose a home, first-time buyers must tailor mortgage terms to meet their circumstances and lifestyles, he says. “Savvy first-time buyers are asking mortgage brokers to sort through the dozens of alternatives available from banks and other lending institutions.”
He says more first-timers are also getting a significant down payment from their boomer parents as an advance on their inheritance. “In other cases, parents are providing no or low interest loans to help their kids get into the market.”
The Century 21 national house price survey of typical first-time homes included 128 neighbourhoods within 55 cities and towns across Canada.
The most expensive cities for first-time buyers based on price per square foot are Vancouver, where a 412-square-foot condo in the downtown is $281,000 or $682 per square foot; the Toronto suburb of Thornhill, where an 800-square-foot bungalow on a 3,500-square-foot lot is $480,000, or $600 per square foot; and downtown Toronto, where a 340-square-foot condo in trendy Liberty Village is $200,000 or $588 per square foot.
The least expensive cities for first-time buyers based on price per square foot are St. John’s (2,150-square-foot two-storey bungalow, $170,000 or $79 per square foot), Halifax (1,408-square-foot semi-detached house, $129,900 or $92 per square foot), Windsor, Ont. (850-square-foot 1½-storey house, $91,000 or $107 per square foot), London (1,000-square-foot townhouse, $120,000 or $120 per square foot), and Sudbury (969-square-foot 1½-storey house, $140,000 or $144 per square foot).
The survey also found that the most expensive smaller centres for first-time buyers based on price per square foot are Fort McMurray, Alta., where the oil sands boom continues (1,120-square-foot bungalow, $565,500 or $505 per square foot), and Canmore, Alta., in the majestic Rockies just east of Banff National Park (1,100-square-foot townhouse, $445,000 or $405 per square foot).
The most affordable prices in smaller centres for first-time buyers based on price per square foot are in Fort Erie, Ont., 30 kilometres south of Niagara Falls on Lake Erie (1,157-square-foot 1½-storey house, $96,000, or $83 per square foot), Summerside, PEI (1,083-square-foot 1½-storey house, $89,900, or $83 per square foot), and Yorkton, Sask., 190 kilometres east of Regina (896-square-foot bungalow, $83,000, or $93 per square foot).

From: http://www.remonline.com/remonline/detail.aspx?dt=1051179&menu=26&app=153&cat1=473&tp=12&lk=g