Buying Your First Home on One Income in Toronto and the GTA (2026)

By Jatin Dua · Broker of Record, RE/MAX Quantum Realty · Updated 5 October 2026 · 12 min read — the price a single income of $70,000 to $150,000 supports at minimum down, where that lands against August 2026 medians, and the three ways solo buyers stretch it.

What one income buys: the table

Buying alone in the GTA is harder than as a couple, not impossible. The table shows the highest price each single income qualifies for at minimum down, rounded down to the nearest $1,000. All my arithmetic.

“Payment at 4.0%” is principal and interest at the illustrative rate. “Full monthly cost” adds the assumed property tax, heating and, for condos, the full $600 fee.

The townhouse column is higher than the condo column for the same income because a freehold townhouse carries no condo fee in the ratios. In practice you pay for the roof, windows and furnace yourself instead, so it is not free money.

The assumptions

Same assumptions as my city-by-city income table: the minimum down payment; a 30-year insured mortgage with the 4.20% CMHC premium added; an ILLUSTRATIVE 4.0% rate, not a quote, compounded semi-annually and qualified at 6.0%; CMHC’s 39% GDS and 44% TDS limits; no other debts unless stated. Three figures are ASSUMPTIONS, not published rates: property tax at 0.7% of the price a year, heating at $75 a month for a condo and $125 for a townhouse, and a $600 condo fee, half of which counts. Change any of them and the prices move.

Where each income lands against August 2026 prices

Against TRREB’s August 2026 medians:

• $70,000 to $85,000: about $293,000 to $368,000 for a condo. That is below every regional condo median. Oshawa’s $327,500 median sits in this range, but it came from only 8 sales. Even lower-priced Toronto districts such as C11 (Leaside, Thorncliffe, Flemingdon Park) at $407,000 from 15 sales and W10 in north Etobicoke at $413,000 from 10, sit above this range, so you are shopping well below the middle of the market.
• $100,000: about $444,000. That reaches the Brampton median of $425,000 and Clarington’s $439,500, and sits just under Durham Region’s $457,500.
• $115,000: about $520,000. That clears the medians in Mississauga ($500,000), Richmond Hill ($500,000), Milton, Pickering, Oakville ($515,000) and Burlington, and the GTA-wide $530,000 is just above.
• $130,000: about $599,000 for a condo, which covers the City of Toronto median ($550,000) and Markham’s $563,800. A freehold townhouse of about $640,000 reaches only Oshawa’s $630,975 townhouse median, from just 8 sales.
• $150,000: about $745,000 for a freehold townhouse, which reaches the August medians in Oshawa ($630,975, 8 sales), Clarington ($670,000), Durham Region ($722,000), Brampton ($735,000) and Whitby ($740,000), with about $49,500 down.

A median is the middle sale, not the cheapest. Half the homes in each area sold for less. For the full ranking, see the most affordable places in the GTA to buy a first home.

Debts hit a single income harder

On one income, a car payment can cost you more home than you expect. The room between the 39% and 44% limits is a share of one income, so it is small.

My arithmetic for a condo buyer:

• At $70,000, a $400 a month car payment lowers the highest condo price from $293,000 to $276,000. An $800 payment drops it to $215,000.
• At $85,000, the same $400 payment lowers it from $368,000 to $361,000.
• At $100,000 and above, a $400 payment fits inside the room between 39% and 44% and changes nothing. An $800 payment at $100,000 drops the condo price from $444,000 to $385,000.

Paying down a car loan can be worth more than adding the same money to your down payment. Your credit score matters as well: CMHC requires at least one borrower or guarantor to have a score of 600 or higher, and each lender sets its own credit standards on top. See the credit score you need for a mortgage.

Three ways to stretch one income

1. A legal rental suite

Rental income from the home you are buying can count toward qualifying. CMHC’s underwriting guidance says that, for a property generating rental income, up to 50% of gross rental income can be added to your income, and for a secondary suite in an owner-occupied two-unit home CMHC will consider up to 100% of the suite’s gross rent. Lenders apply their own policies inside those limits and will want evidence of the rent.

The arithmetic is simple: every $1,000 a month of rent the lender counts adds $12,000 to your qualifying income. For a freehold buyer earning $100,000, an extra $12,000 lifts the highest price by about $63,000 on my assumptions, before the extra down payment that bigger price needs. Read buying a house with a basement apartment before you rely on a suite.

2. A co-owner

Buying with a sibling, a friend or a parent puts two incomes on one application. Everyone on title is an owner, and everyone on the mortgage is responsible for it. How you hold title, joint tenancy or tenants in common, decides what happens if one of you dies or wants out. Read buying a home with a friend or family and get a written co-ownership agreement from a lawyer.

3. A co-signer or guarantor

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada describes a joint borrower, also called a co-signer, as someone who signs the mortgage with you, and says they become equally responsible for repaying the unpaid balance. They are entitled to the same disclosures and statements you receive. A guarantor, by contrast, generally promises to pay if you do not, without being a borrower on the mortgage; whether a guarantor also goes on title, and how a lender counts the guarantor’s own income and debts, is set by each lender. CMHC accepts a guarantor’s credit score in place of a borrower’s for its 600 minimum.

Either way, a co-signer is taking on your whole balance, so expect it to affect their own future borrowing, and ask the lender how it will be reported. A parent added to title can also affect first-time buyer status for some programs. That needs care, and I cover it in co-signer vs guarantor in Ontario.

The risks of buying solo, and how to cover them

A couple has a second income if one job ends. You do not. That changes how I would plan:

• Keep a cash cushion after closing. I would rather a solo buyer buy slightly less and keep several months of full housing costs in the bank for a lost job, a special assessment or a broken furnace.
• Insure your income, not just the house. Lenders will offer optional mortgage life and disability insurance. FCAC notes that with mortgage life insurance the lender is the beneficiary and the benefit falls as your balance falls, and that you do not have to buy it to be approved. Compare it with individual term life and disability coverage.
• Plan for renewal. Your rate is fixed for the term, not the 30 years. On my arithmetic, the $115,000 earner who buys a $520,000 condo would owe about $464,387 after five years at 4.0%. If the renewal rate were 6.0% over the remaining 25 years, the payment would go from $2,443 to $2,971 a month. That is an illustration, not a forecast.
• Do not stretch to the line. Budget on take-home pay, not on the lender’s 39% of gross.

On one income, the FHSA, the Home Buyers’ Plan and the land transfer tax refunds carry more weight. See first-time home buyer programs in Ontario and FHSA vs Home Buyers’ Plan.

Condo or townhouse when you are on your own

For most single buyers in the GTA, the first home is a condo apartment, because that is where the prices sit. A condo fee bundles most building costs into one bill; the trade-off is that it rises over time.

A freehold townhouse gives you land and control, and no fee in the lender’s ratios, but every repair is yours, and on one income a roof or furnace bill hits harder. If you are deciding between the two, condo vs townhouse vs semi-detached goes through it, and the first-year cost of owning a home shows what to budget beyond the mortgage. For how budgets map to areas, see what $500K, $700K and $900K buy.

Your next step

Before you shop, run your own numbers in the GTA mortgage affordability calculator: it applies the stress test, the insured-mortgage rules and land transfer tax for the city you pick, and shows the cash you need on closing day.

Then talk to a licensed mortgage agent or your bank for a real pre-approval; what a pre-approval does and does not guarantee explains its limits. My numbers use an illustrative rate, so treat them as a starting point, not an approval.

I work with first-time buyers across Toronto and the GTA, from condos downtown to townhouses in Peel, York, Halton and Durham. If you are buying on one income and want the price range, the cash you need and the areas that fit, ask for a written first-time buyer plan in the form below, book a call, or phone 833-330-1925.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• TRREB — Market Watch, August 2026 — condominium apartment tables by region and municipality
• TRREB — Market Watch, August 2026 — detached, semi-detached and freehold townhouse tables, and the MLS HPI benchmark
• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada — Down payment and mortgage loan insurance — 5% of the first $500,000, 10% of the portion to $1.5 million, 20% at $1.5 million or more
• Department of Finance Canada — Boldest mortgage reforms in decades come into force today (15 Dec 2024) — insured price cap $1.5 million; 30-year amortization for first-time buyers and new builds
• CMHC — Premium information for homeowner and small rental loans — premium by loan-to-value; 0.20% surcharge beyond 25 years; Ontario sales tax on the premium
• CMHC — Calculating GDS / TDS — 50% of condominium fees counted; 39% / 44% limits
• CMHC — Purchase mortgage loan insurance — 1–4 units, owner-occupied; at least one borrower or guarantor with a 600 credit score
• CMHC — Rental income (homeowner mortgage loan insurance) — owner-occupied 2 units: up to 100% of gross rent; 3–4 units: up to 50% or net rental income
• OSFI — Minimum qualifying rate for uninsured mortgages
• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada — Disclosure of information to joint borrowers — co-signers are equally responsible for the unpaid balance
• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada — Optional mortgage insurance products — lender is the beneficiary; benefit falls as the balance falls; optional
• Government of Ontario — Retail sales tax on insurance and benefits plans — 8% retail sales tax on premiums under taxable insurance contracts
• Government of Ontario — Land transfer tax refunds for first-time homebuyers — up to $4,000

Related reading

• Income needed to buy a home in the GTA, city by city
• Co-signer vs guarantor in Ontario
• Most affordable places to buy a first home in the GTA
• The first-year cost of owning a home
• Buying a home with a friend or family
• Buying a house with a basement apartment
• How much home can you afford in the GTA?
• First-time home buyer programs in Ontario