Single homeownership a trend

For Robert Lenarcic, the best and worst things about living alone are the same: no company.

The Ottawa homeowner makes whatever social plans he wants and no one complains about dirty dishes, but there's also no one to share the bills or stay in and watch a movie.

Even two-for-one dinner coupons make Lenarcic feel like he's living in a couples' world, but in fact he belongs to one of Canada's fastest-growing groups: people living alone.

"I love having the freedom to be by myself and do things whenever I want and how I want -- that's something a lot of couples don't have. But at the same time, I really miss having companionship," the 39-year-old says. "It would be nice -- sometimes -- to have somebody around."

According to the latest census results, the number of one-person households swelled by almost 12 per cent between 2001 and 2006, meaning they're growing more than twice as fast as other households. By contrast, those composed of couples with children have almost flat lined, at 0.4 per cent growth.

All told, more than one in four Canadian households (26.8 per cent) include people just like Lenarcic.

From demand for single servings instead of family packs at the grocery store, to the greater environmental cost of living alone, this population is poised to have a major impact.

A report released Wednesday from Statistics Canada shows home ownership rates for those living alone are growing faster than among the general population. Just under half (47.8 per cent) of people living alone owned their own place in 2006, the agency says, though women are more likely to buy than men, at 48.7 per cent compared to 46.7 per cent.

"This is a change from, say, 10 or 20 years ago," says Jim Murphy, president of the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals.

More and more singles have been buying into the housing market -- especially in large urban centres -- he says, and that's created a need for more dwellings than ever before.

But in Lenarcic's experience, the real estate sector hasn't quite caught on to the one-person household trend. All the home-buying seminars he attended were tailored to couples and their finances, and he finally enlisted a friend to play half of a "pseudo-couple" at open houses because realtors seemed to find it strange that a single man wanted to buy a detached house.

David Foot, a demographics expert at the University of Toronto and author of Boom, Bust & Echo, says the trend in solo households is driven by numbers of widowed people living alone in an aging population.

"It's got long legs, this is just a continuing trend we're going to see a lot more of," Foot says, adding it will likely peak around 2050 and then decline "when the baby boomers die, basically."

(prepared by Shannon Proudfoot/Vancouver Sun)