Buying a new home might be one of the biggest purchases you ever make in your life. It is also a great investment in your future, one that takes nurturing, maintenance, and smart financial planning.

After your move in, unpack all your boxes, organize your furniture and start to feel at home, there is an opportunity to look at ways to save money so that you can enjoy your new home even more!

We’ve rounded up five ways new homeowners can save money, and you might think of a few more after reading our shortlist.

1. Roll Up Your Sleeves and DIY Home Projects

This is a no-brainer and can actually be very fun! By rolling up your sleeves and doing some small home projects yourself, you can save money by not paying someone else to do them. If DIY isn’t exactly your thing, but learning new skills is, you can often sign up for short courses at local hardware and home stores to get familiar with what tools you will need and how to do the job properly.

Some easy projects you can do yourself are:

– paint one or more rooms in the house to give them a fresh and personalized feel;

– install a backsplash in your kitchen or bathroom;

– partner with neighbors to put up fencing or construct a back deck;

– install window coverings;

– change light fixtures;

– switch out the handles and hardware on cabinetry and doors around your home

2. Energy Audit Your Home

You might not realize it, but you could be spending way more than you should be to heat and cool your home. There are some simple ways to ensure your home insulation is working as well as it should be and some tools you can use to improve your home’s performance.

More common in older homes, drafty windows can drain your savings and they can be fixed with weather stripping found at most hardware stores. Doors can be drafty too and it doesn’t make you have to replace the door or the frame, it just means you have to reduce the gap.

When it’s hot outside and you want your house to stay cool, window coverings can help to reduce the heat in your home. If your air conditioner isn’t over-worked, you won’t have to spend as much to keep your house cool in the summer

Another big energy eater is the lightbulb – so easy to replace. LED and CFL lighting can save you a bundle and they outlast regular incandescent bulbs. They might be pricier to purchase but they will save you money in the long run. Try installing them in places where lights are left on, such as the front porch, hallway, and living rooms.

3. Bundles Your Services

Do you have more than one type of insurance? Home, car, life insurance? Please speak to your financial experts about bundling them to find some savings.

What about phones, TV, and the internet? Bundling these services should also come with a discount, saving you money every month.

Another example of bundling is to speak with your mortgage broker or financial advisory about refinancing or consolidating loans. This can save you money in the short and long term and is definitely worth looking into.

4. Smarten Up Your Home

Many new construction homes will have integrated smart home technology ready when you move in. This is a great way to save money from Day 1 and according to Energy Star, a smart thermometer can save new homeowners about 8 percent per year on their utility bills.

If your home doesn’t have smart technology, here are a few ways to install tools that can help monitor energy use and save you money by minimizing your utility bills. Installing a smart thermometer is a great first step. You can control the climate in your home and make it cost-effective by programming the optimal desired temperature for different seasons, times of the day, and week, as well as when you are in the home or not.

A smart water monitor and security system is another way to save money. While a security system is known to alert homeowners to theft, a smart water monitor security system can protect your home from water damage and leaks that cost you money on your water bill and your homeowner’s insurance.

Lastly, smart lighting technology such as motion sensors and installing water conservation fixtures around the home, such as low-flow toilets, faucets, and showerheads will save you money on items you use every day.

5. Save Some Money For A Rainy Day

It might sound strange, but putting aside some money every month is a great way new homeowners can save money in the long term. Owning a home is a big responsibility and maintaining your investment is important to ensure its longevity. Seasonal maintenance is part of homeownership, and much of it can be DIY’ed to save money, but sometimes things pop up that are unexpected.

For example, after a long, hard winter, you may need to replace some roof shingles or fix a leak that appears in a rainy spring season. At any time, there could be appliances that need to be replaced or new furniture that needs to be purchased as your family grows.

Saving for a rainy day really means planning for the unexpected so that when you do need it, the money is there. This will save you borrowing costs, not to mention some stress!

Many Ways to Save

As a new homeowner, there are many ways to save money so that you can relax and enjoy your new home, and all you have to do is tackle one or two and you will start to see some savings soon enough!

Across Canada, homes sales are historically high, and even as winter recedes and spring is upon us, the figures from the last few months are pointing to a strong start to the year with momentum to keep going.

“The question is: will that [spring] supply [of resale homes listings] be overwhelmed by demand as it was last spring, or will we start to see the re-emergence of some of the many would-be sellers who have been hunkered down for the last two years? Either way, it is shaping up to be another interesting year for the housing market,” Cliff Stevenson, Chair of the Canadian Real Estate Association said in a February news release.

Just like in the new construction sector, there is a low supply of resale homes on the market. The number of newly-listed properties dropped 11 percent from December 2021 to January 2022, according to the real estate association’s figures.

Buying a Resale Home in Canada’s Big Cities

There was an even split between the number of local markets where sales were up and those where sales were down in January. A look across Canada’s biggest cities shows where people are finding resale homes to purchase. Sales were up in Calgary, Greater Vancouver, and Ottawa but down in Winnipeg, Montreal, the Fraser Valley, and Hamilton-Burlington.

The actual number of transactions in January 2022 came in 10.7 percent below the record for that month, set in 2021. That said, as was the case throughout the second half of 2021, it was still the second-highest level on record for that month.

Additionally, the number of newly listed homes dropped by 11 percent month-over-month in January, with a pullback in the GTA accounting for more than half of the national decline.

“The ideal situation between now and the summer would be that a huge surge of sellers come forward looking to sell in the spring 2022 market,” said Shaun Cathcart, Canadian Real Estate Association’s Senior Economist.

“If that were to occur, similar to 2021, we’d likely see a massive number of sales take place which would get a lot of frustrated buyers into homeownership, and we’d likely see some cooling off on the price growth side if those offers are spread across more listings. Those are all things this market needs. It really comes down to how many properties come up for sale in the months ahead.”

Resale Home Prices in the Greater Toronto Area

The resale home market in the Greater Toronto Area is defined by supply and demand.

A lack of new listings of resale homes continues and that means more competition for the homes that are for sale, which drives prices up. The average home price crept up nearly 28 percent when compared with last year in the GTA, according to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board.

The average selling price for a home in the region surpassed $1.3 million in February 2022, up from just above $1 million last February and more than $1.2 million in January of this year.

Looking at home size and style, the average price of a detached home hit more than $1.7 million last month in the GTA, with semi-detached properties at $1.3 million, townhouses at $1.1 million, and condos nearing $800,000.

The GTA continues to be a desirable place to live and buy a home, however, the demand is outpacing supply, fueling a market where bidding wars, few sellers, and a frenzied atmosphere have become the norm.

Could the Interest Rate Increase have a Cooling Effect?

In early March, the Bank of Canada increased its benchmark interest rate to 0.5 percent from 0.25, where it has sat for the last two years of the worldwide pandemic. Read our blog post here to learn more about what the interest rate increase means to you if you’re an investor, a first-time home buyer, an upsizer, or a downsizer.

The sustained low-interest rate is an incentive for many people to get into the housing market, as well as upsize, but there remains a supply issue in major centers like the GTA, which impacts pricing.

The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board reacted to the interest rate increase by stating that it will likely have a “moderating effect” on home sales, but will be countered by substantial immigration levels and a continued lack of supply. The Board does not see home prices abating in the near term.

“Because inventory remains exceptionally low, it will take some time for the pace of price growth to slow,” Jason Mercer, the board’s chief market analyst, said in a news release.

“Look for a more moderate pace of price growth in the second half of 2022 as higher borrowing costs result in some households putting their home purchase on hold temporarily as they resituate themselves in the market.”

Greater Toronto Area realtors reported 9,097 sales through the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board’s MLS® System in February 2022, representing a 16.8 percent decrease in the number of sales compared to February 2021.

The supply of listings for low-rise home types including detached, semi-detached and townhouses was also down year-over-year. In the condominium apartment segment, particularly in Toronto, new listings were up in comparison to February 2021.

“We have seen a slight balancing in the market so far this year, with sales dipping more than new listings. However, because inventory remains exceptionally low, it will take some time for the pace of price growth to slow,” said Mercer.

If interest rates rise again throughout this year and next, resale home buyers could experience less competition, and in turn, slightly lower sales figures in the second half of 2022. That is if the market cools as expected due to higher borrowing costs.