Forty eight percent of Canadians aged 18-34 years old bought a first house that was at least 21 years old, according to the TD Canada Trust Generational Homeownership Survey. On the other hand, those 55 and older chose newer homes, with only one-quarter of that group purchasing a property 21 years or older for their first home.

The TD Canada Trust Generational Homeownership Survey was conducted to understand the differences in behaviours and attitudes of Canadians across the generations when purchasing their first home.

Possibly looking for a more affordable option, younger Canadians were the most willing to take on a fixer-upper at 35 percent as their first home compared to 24 percent of those now 55+ who did the same when they were first time homebuyers.

The location of their first home was a key factor for all Canadians, but younger first-time buyers were most likely to admit that location was a top priority for them. And younger Canadians are most likely to have selected a city or town for their first home purchase as opposed to suburbs or rural location

Indicative of their preference for city living and the wide availability of condos in urban markets, when asked what type of home they purchased, younger Canadians, 18-34, were more likely than other groups to purchase a condo as their first home, but the majority did buy a house (65%).

While there are more condominium options than ever before in Canada, first-time buyers today are still looking for traditional houses no matter the age or location of the property. Seventy-five per cent of first time buyers across the generations purchased a house.