Struggling to buy your first home? Why some Nova Scotians are choosing multi-generational living

Sarah Head and Mathew Archibald were excited to buy their first home. 

They began house hunting roughly four years ago but, with news that they were expecting their first child, intensified their search. 

They kept saving for a down payment, but house prices kept climbing, too. They started looking further afield, in places like Lantz and Elmsdale. But they struggled with the prices — Archibald said he remembers looking at a mobile home that was nearly $400,000 — being asked in a housing market that’s changed rapidly. 

Their son was born a year and a half ago, and they said they didn’t feel any closer to buying a home than when they started. 

“With everything, especially with child care, it’s even hard to afford anything,” said Archibald. 

However, like an increasing number of Nova Scotians, Archibald and Head made the decision with Archibald’s parents to live in a multi-generational home to save costs. 

With the median price of a single-family dwelling reaching $598,300 in Halifax, according to a recent update from Royal LePage Atlantic, they expect more first-time homebuyers to look to family to help navigate the affordability crisis. 

“It’s exciting but it’s also disheartening,” said Head. “We’re in our 30s and we have to take a step back and go live with parents to be able to get into a house, to have a yard and space for our son to be able to play outside.” 

Head and Archibald aren’t alone in feeling priced out 

Matt Honsberger, president of Royal LePage Atlantic, said more people are feeling priced out of Halifax’s housing market. 

He added that even people living in starter or mid-sized homes are waiting to see what happens before looking to move up the market, blocking first-time homebuyers looking for cheaper options. 

“The most important part is affordability,” Honsberger told The Chronicle Herald. “As we’ve seen interest rates go from five-year fixed (mortgages) at 1.7 per cent four or five years ago, we’re now pushing up towards five per cent.” 

The result is the median price, according to Royal LePage, of a single-family detached home increased just 0.1 per cent in Halifax year over year. 

Honsberger said many just can’t afford to get into the market. 

“That forces different behaviours. You’re either going to have to buy with your parents, with a tenant in it, or you and someone else getting together to buy instead of buying on your own.” 

45 per cent of Atlantic Canadians would consider multi-generational homes 

Head and Archibald said they spoke to Archibald’s parents, who live in Beaver Bank, about their situation. They ultimately decided to live together, as Archibald’s parents were preparing to retire and would be on a fixed income. They took out a loan to renovate the basement into an in-law suite, and bills will be shared to offset costs for each family under the same roof. 

There’s also the added benefit of child care for Head and Archibald. 

But help also goes the other way in a multi-generational home. 

“It’s going to be weird living with your parents again after you’ve moved out on your own for the last 10 years. But they’re going to need us at some point, and they’ll have us at arm’s reach,” said Archibald. 

Recent polling from RBC indicates 45 per cent of Atlantic Canadians would consider living in a multi-generational home, speaking to changes in the market. Roughly 34 per cent said multi-generational living feels like a necessity versus a choice; Head and Archibald consider themselves in this camp. 

“It’s a very weird feeling,” said Archibald. 

People still want to make it alone 

Honsberger said he believes most homebuyers would prefer to be able to exercise their own buying power without help.  But he also doesn’t expect things to change drastically in terms of affordability, necessitating people choosing a different option than most adults dream about. 

“I think it’s still going to be tricky to get into a home. The pattern of (multi-generational homes) will probably remain even though the desire to go back to the way we operated up until COVID is still there,” he said. 

Head and Archibald, however, are happy to have their living sorted after renting for so long. 

“I’m personally very excited about it,” said Head.