this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2023
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Older millennials, adults aged 35 to 44, had debt-to-disposable income ratios around 250 per cent in 2019, while Freestone noted that metric was roughly 150 per cent for the same age group in 1999.

Can confirm we're sitting around 250% but this is after exercising significant restraint to not take on as much mortgage as the banks would have given us. Everyone I know who bought over the last couple of years went all out and I can't imagine them being any lower than 300-350%.

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[–] [email protected] 50 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (6 children)

It isn't just mortgages. I read just a few days ago that the average price of a new car in Canada is $66k. I'm not sure I've spent that much on all of my vehicles combined since I bought my first car at 17. Add in other things bought on financing – lots of our friends have travel trailers, ATVs, and such.

[–] bl4ckblooc 25 points 2 years ago (2 children)

People where I live regularly sell trucks on FB for 60-80K, and they are used with 100,000 km on them

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I read just a few days ago that the average price of a new car in Canada is $66k.

And a good used bike is $150.

People, we need to start looking for alternatives that won't make rich people richer. Buy a *used *car if you must have a car, but don't keep filling the pockets of these greedy bastards by buying new.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 years ago (5 children)

I'm super into urbanism and love my bike, but unless there's good bike infrastructure in your area, you're risking your life. I know and keep riding anyways but most people aren't willing to take that risk. What we need to do is organize to push our governments to provide safe infrastructure for all road users.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Don't forget the cost of insurance, maintenance, fuel, etc. According to TechAltar it costs about half a million euros to own something like a VW Golf at the low end, 1.5M euros on the higher end. It's estimated that the average person spends 30-40% of their lifetime income on their car.

People only see the initial purchase price (which is often ignored because of various deferred payment offers that further increases the price), and the price of gas. Gas alone is starting to reach the price of renting an apartment, yet somehow people still can't see themselves living without a car.

Insane.

[–] peopleproblems 4 points 2 years ago (4 children)

Is it really that expensive to own a car outside of the U.S.? That seems absurd

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago (11 children)

It's that expensive to own a car everywhere. In Canada, it's projected to be >$1K/mo (CAA has a calculator if you want to project your own costs).

The US is no better.

The craziest part, as TechAltar points out in that video, is that society as a whole subsidizes car ownership and if owners actual saw the whole cost through registration fees and gas taxes, that cost would probably be 50% higher.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago (2 children)

It is absurd because those numbers are nonsense. There's a spreadsheet linked in the video description.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago (5 children)

I'm super confused, why is everyone bringing up such ridiculous car prices? Both Canada and the US have cheaper cars too. For example a KIA Rio (5 door) is around $17-23k new in Canada. It's $16k in the US.

Are Americans only considering massive SUVs when they talk about new car prices?

[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 years ago

You are talking about least expensive, they were talking about average.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago (1 children)

How many Rios do you see on the road for every F-150?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

I see a RAM for every 2 F-150s. πŸ₯²

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

Where are you getting $17K from? According to Kia's website, they start at $19,933. And that's pretty much the cheapest new car in Canada. That's way out of reach for many people, and the used market is insane.

Earlier this year, my 2005 Civic with 301,000km was totaled. I bought it in 2013 for $5,000 with 121,000km. From my research, if I had sold it before it was totalled, I probably could have gotten more than $5,000 for it, even with the extra decade and 180,000km.

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[–] Magister 4 points 2 years ago

Some people have good incomes, but cannot anymore changes houses every 5 years because it's out of control, for the price and interest rates, so they use their income to buy cars/RV.

Also some are leasing even if it's like 800$/month just to show their car, I know people who lease big Volvo, Porsche, etc.

Me I keep my 10yo Sonata, and if it dies/crashes, I don't think I'll be able to buy anything more than 15k :-/ What's available for 15k ? a 2006 Sunfire?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

True. I don't own a car so this completely escaped me.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Oh look, things are getting worse again. I'm just numb to it at this point, it's all I've ever really known.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 years ago

I'm already in so much physical pain, might as well lump economic pain in there as well...

[–] TrismegistusMx 34 points 2 years ago (1 children)

This is actually a choice. The rich have decided that millennials will suffer so they don't have to. We outnumber them.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 years ago (3 children)

(Seriously sorry for dumb question) What does that mean for us?

[–] ChocoboRocket 36 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (3 children)

Depends on where you are financially. If you have a fixed rate mortgage that is getting renewed in the next year or two - you'll see a big jump in payments if you aren't able to extend your mortgage.

If you're still on variable, no real change.

If you're renting, rents will continue to climb if interest rates go up or plateau - but don't ever expect prices to come back down, if you're lucky they'll stagnate for a year but that's unlikely because landlords are greedy shits.

Businesses are cutting jobs as there's less money in the market (all going to shelter and food plus general Greed of making less people do the same/more as a larger group), so if you're unfortunate enough to have a mortgage that's renewing soon and you lose your job and EI can't cover the difference, you'll probably have to sell or lose your home... And still be unable to afford rent.

This has been the goal of every level of government for a while, municipalities refused density, provinces refused to prioritize any public housing (Doug in Ontario is sitting on 22 Billion as education, healthcare, and housing are floundering, so he gifts developers billions in prime Greenbelt lands for single detached millionaire homes) and the Feds can't really do much with provincial and municipal governments running interference - aside from use their own central banks to get essentially interest free loans and build federal public housing. Which they should but certainly aren't.

Oh, and the Bank of Canada is crushing developers with interest rates so they're cancelling or pausing projects because they're unprofitable with these interests rates - or they're colluding and holding us over a barrel because our government cannot successfully accomplish anything without overpaying a private business who underpay their workers to do it for them.

If you keep your job and bought a home within your means, it'll be lean times but not impossible to overcome. Don't be afraid to use food banks or anything to keep yourself afloat. Times are tough af and there is little relief on the horizon.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 years ago (4 children)

This really helps me understand the situation better. I appreciate the time and thought put into this response. It's times like these I am thankful I didn't overspend. I listened to my parents and bought a house that wasn't flashy but was suitable for my situation. Most people I know did not do that, and I constantly wonder how they are making ends meet. Some of them make less than I do.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 years ago

The way I understand it, there are two main implications. First, the higher the debt load, the less people will spend in a rising interest environment. As their (our) mortgage payments go up, we'll spend less on anything else. The larger the effect, the more significant it is for the rest of the economy. Second, the higher the load, the more people will default or sell in a rising interest environment. The consequences of this one are more varied.

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