$200K on a $1MM home is 20%. When I bought a place in 2015, the lender I went with literally demanded that we max out at 15% down payment and they'd pay the CMHC insurance on our behalf. My understanding was that they were expecting to glean significantly more than the CMHC insurance in extra interest over the life of the loan.
I don't know if lenders are back to being conservative and wanting 20% down. I am just saying there might be no specific requirement for a 20% down payment. Some people might be getting away with 10-19% down. My understanding is that you just have to either pay higher interest rates and/or a CMHC insurance thing IIRC.
Most people I know usually save up 3-5 years for a down payment before buying a house. Most of these same people are not the types of people that buy a house immediately after entering the work force. Some of these comments comparing a raw wages + empty bank account to property prices are kinda odd.
And there was a good point made. Almost everyone I know in Vancouver who bought a big place, rents out the extra space in the house they live in. It's quite common and my buddy kept laughing and calling it the Vancouver special. He lives in a 2500 sq foot usable space property (about 1600 sq ft above grade ish?) that's segregated into 3 separate entrances. Another I know bought a 4 million dollar property and rents out half the home to someone else. It's the complete opposite of everyone I know in Calgary. I can count on one hand the people I know who collect rents from the same roof they live under. Multiple properties, many. But very few for those who are under the same roof. Anyone spending over $700K in Calgary seemingly expects privacy and does not expect to have to rent out extra space. Many in Vancouver don't necessarily have this expectation.
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