Housing Minister France-Élaine Duranceau, who suggested dissatisfied tenants to invest in real estate, entered the property through the front door. In 2006, she bought her first home for $770,000 with no mortgage.
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She and her spouse, both tax experts, have gone from renting an apartment in Old Montreal to owning an opulent residence in L’Île-des-Sœurs.
For fifteen years, the couple used their L’Île-des-Sœurs residence as financial leverage and invested in other properties before selling it for $2.4 million in May 2022.
In 2006, the median price for a new home in the greater Montreal area was $298,000. Today, the median price is $593,000.
“When someone buys a house [770 000$] The census in 2006 and still today means that she comes from a background that has a lot of money or has a lot of money saved. It’s almost impossible,” says Michel-Olivier Marcoux, Financial Advisor and President of ASF Wealth Management.
Madame Duranceau’s home just before it’s sold for $2.4 million in 2022. YouTube ENGEL & VÖLKERS
Far from the middle class
Jean-Philippe Meloche, a professor at the University of Montreal’s School of Urban Planning, said the minister’s experience was unusual for first-time buyers.
“We agree that it’s not just mere mortals who can afford it. “Having $770,000 in a bank account is not at all what the middle class is capable of,” says Mr. Meloche.
At the time of purchase, France-Élaine Duranceau was 31 and Senior Tax Director at Transcontinental.
“This information concerns Ms. Duranceau’s private life. There will be no comments on this,” his spokesman Philippe Couture replied when asked about the transaction.
“You cannot use a right that is not yours to assign a lease to another person on terms of your own choosing if it is not your building. The tenant who wants this must invest in real estate and take the risks involved.” — Interview with France-Élaine Duranceau on June 12 in Noovo
Rarely
Buying a property without a mortgage is rare, says Michel-Olivier Marcoux.
“It’s a minority of people who can afford it. That doesn’t happen regularly. That never happened to me among the first buyers,” he says.
According to Mr. Meloche, “People who don’t need credit to access property have far cheaper access”.
“That’s one of the problems at the moment. Those who have accumulated capital throughout their lives outbid and compete with young people who have no accumulated capital and want to enter the market,” says the man, who is a member of the Ivanhoé Cambridge Observatory of Urban and Real Estate Development.
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Mr Marcoux explains that access to property has become so difficult that young people “with good salaries” need their parents’ help to make a sufficient down payment.
“For 5 years I’ve seen more and more of it. 20% of a $500,000 property is $100,000. It’s not easy to accumulate, especially with rents still being high,” he recalls.
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