Aug 31, 2025
For decades, Habitat for Humanity has been helping people around the world get access to homes of their own. Recently the organization's chapter in Windsor-Essex, Ontario has increased the salary requirement to qualify for its help as home prices in Windsor have gone up to an average of $570,000 according to CBC.
Previously, the upper income threshold sat at $71,000 of household income. Now, it’s $135,000. This change might seem like an indicator of a rough housing market, but at the same time Canadian home prices are dropping. But, are they dropping enough for first time buyers to get in on the action?
How much have Canadian home prices dropped?
According to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) the average Canadian home price dropped around $150,000 between February 2022 and July 2025. Many experts are considering the current market to be a buyer’s market, meaning that they can take their time, negotiate and have multiple options to make offers on.
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Toronto real estate agent Heather Hadden told CBC she hasn’t “seen such a good time for a first-time buyer in years and years” adding that just a couple years ago, $600,000 would have gotten someone a tiny condo in Toronto, or a slightly bigger one outside of the city. Whereas “right now for under $600,000, you can get a pretty decent one-bedroom condo."
That being said, the average cost of a home in Canada is $672,784, per the CREA, and the average household income for Canadians was $74,200 as of 2023 (according to Statistics Canada). While we might be in a buyer’s market, many buyers are still closer to being eligible for services like Habitat for Humanity than they are to buying a home.
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Alternatives to buying a home if its not in the cards for you yet
If you’re not in a place financially to purchase a home, all hope is not lost — you can still get some skin in the game of the real estate market using alternative methods such as crowdfunding platforms, rental properties and REITs.
However, if you're determined to outright own a whole piece of property as a first time homebuyer, there are First Home Savings Accounts (FHSAs) that can help put your hard-earned savings to good use.
A tax-free First Home Savings Account (FHSA) can help you put aside up to $40,000 in tax-free savings to put toward your first home. Contributions to this account are tax deductible and the funds can be utilized as a down payment on your first home without any obligation for repayment. While the amount of a down payment depends on the purchase price of the home, putting down 20% means you won’t have to pay mortgage default insurance.
Once you open an FHSA, you can keep it open for 15 years or until you use the money to buy a home (at the end of the second year after purchase). To withdraw your funds, you’ll need proof of a written agreement to buy or build a home in Canada—which will serve as your principal residence—before October 1 of the year that follows the withdrawal.
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You can contribute up to $8,000 per year, with a lifetime contribution limit of $40,000. Unused contribution room can only be carried forward one year. So, if you contribute $2,000 in 2024, you could contribute an extra $6,000 in 2025, for a total of $14,000. Contribution room begins when you open the account.
So long as you meet the eligibility requirements, and you (or your spouse or common-law partner who you live with) haven’t owned or jointly owned a home in the previous four calendar years, you can open an FHSA.
Sources
1. CBC: Earn less than $135K? Habitat for Humanity says you might qualify for its help by Heather Kitching (Aug 14, 2025)
2. CREA: Canadian Home Sales Continue to Climb in July, National Benchmark Price Remains Steady
3. CBC: Is now the moment for first-time buyers to get into the housing market? by Angela Hennessy (Aug 25, 2025)
4. Statistics Canada: Canada Income Survey 2023
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Em Norton is a Staff Writer for Money.ca. Em holds a B.A. in Professional Writing from York University and has been writing professionally since 2019. Em's work has previously been published by Room Magazine, IN Magazine, Our Canada and more.
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