25 per cent. 

That’s the percentage of mortgage applications that Perch, a mortgage brokerage based in Toronto, receives from prospective homeowners who are single. That means about three-quarters of their applicants are coupled up, in some form or another. 

“People have to aggregate to survive”, shares Alex Leduc, founder and CEO of Perch. “Whether it’s intergenerational living, couples, siblings, and so on, there are so many trends towards needing to pool multiple incomes or down payment sources to make ends meet to get into the housing market.”

Qualifying separately for first-time homebuyer incentives

Michael Son, a realtor since 2022 with G&E Realty Group, previously lived and worked in Montreal before moving to Vancouver. He’s seen first-hand how people’s romantic choices influence their real estate transactions.

A client of his in Ontario recently had a wedding ceremony, but didn’t sign on the dotted line … yet. 

“They’re going to sign the papers a bit later down the line so that they can apply for their first-time homebuyer credits and incentives separately, so that they can even pull property together,” Son explains.

Why wait? One of them had already previously purchased a property and used the First-Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit and incentives. Therefore, if they “officially” married, the other wouldn’t have been able to use the credit themselves. 

“They’ve recently moved into a very large townhouse, so they’ll have to wait a little longer before they certify their marriage,” Son adds.

How cultural values around relationships align with real estate transaction practicalities

A study by The Vanier Institute of The Family showed that common-law unions are most common in Quebec and Nunavut. Being French-Canadian with Korean ethnicity, Son has experience with how different cultural values around relationships align with the practicalities of real estate transactions.

“We see a lot of common-law partnerships and based on my experience so far, the majority of my clients like to keep a lot of things separate from their spouse,” comments Son.

For better or for worse, many societal conventions tend to operate in favour of couples, such as hotel room bookings with double occupancy. Homeownership in Canada appears to be no exception. Two people tend to equal two incomes, especially in more urban areas of the country, based on Perch’s data.

“If I have two people making $100,000 per year each or one person making $200,000 a year, lenders will look at it very similarly,” says Leduc. “I think it’s more around the continuation of that mortgage, or the ability to not go into default.”

Buyers need to stand out: Personal touches can pay off

Mortgage brokers might not be the only ones swayed by someone’s relationship status when it comes to buying a home. When Tania Perizzolo and her fiance, Nick Raposo, a couple in their 30s from Metro Vancouver, bought their home together, it was during a highly competitive market.

“Buying a home together was exciting and stressful. Exciting because our relationship was fresh with the promise of the future, having recently moved in together,” Perizzolo recalls. 

When they did eventually find a home they loved, she knew that they’d have to stand out if they wanted to land that dream home.

“To add a personal touch to our offer, we decided to submit a short letter to the seller,” she continues. “To be honest, it felt uncomfortable to be so vulnerable with a stranger, but with such a large and meaningful purchase on the line we got over that discomfort pretty quickly. ”

The letter included a photo of the couple with their love story, what they hoped for the future and how that particular home would fit that vision. Fortunately, it paid off, as it was a contributing factor in the seller’s decision to choose them as the new owners.

Decision of where to put down roots: Partly influenced by real estate market dynamics 

Perch’s data indicates that of clients ages 18 to 39 who closed a mortgage with them, 65 per cent were married or common law. Rosa Sasages, a homeowner based in Chilliwack (a Metro Vancouver suburb), and her husband Sean got married when they were 22. By the time they were 28, they were able to put a down payment on their first home together. But it wasn’t exactly a honeymoon phase going into homeownership.

“We got married without any savings or anything to even think about buying,” she shares. “During that first year of marriage in 2009, we were very much affected by the recession that trickled into our honeymoon phase of life.”

The decision of where to put down roots was in part influenced by the dynamics of the real estate market. While they were initially concerned about leaving the city behind for a quieter lifestyle in Chilliwack, it’s a decision they don’t regret.

“We thought we would hate it here. Too quiet. Too lonely,” Sasages confesses. “Buying real estate is a gamble. It’s a gamble on what price you pay, where you buy and what you gain. But we love it here. It takes courage, hard work and, in some cases, timing to succeed in this market.”

Divorce: The ‘leading cause of unexpected defaults or homes that must liquidate’

Despite divorce rates declining in Canada since the 1990s, it’s not always a happy ending for everyone.

“I remember one of my old bosses would always joke, ‘If somebody could just build a divorce prediction model it would trump any other one,’ because that’s the leading cause of unexpected defaults or homes that have to go into liquidation,” Leduc adds.

So, if your clients are a couple looking to jump into a different kind of long-term commitment with homeownership, what can they do to ensure success both in real estate and in their relationship?

“It’s just all about planning, period,” shares Son. “Budget realistically and (get) some professional guidance from mortgage brokers or real estate brokers. Have a long-term forecast and plan for the future a little bit more compared to the immediate now.”