A $600K home takes 34 months at $1,000 a month — or 57 if you want 10% down
How long the down payment on a $600,000 home actually takes at $1,000 and $2,000 a month, for the 5% minimum, 10%, and 20% — and what an FHSA refund shaves off the calendar.
"How long until we can buy?" has a precise answer once you pin down two numbers: the down payment you're aiming for and what you can put away each month. Here's the timeline for a $600,000 home at three targets and two savings rates. All scenarios start from $0 saved and assume a 3% annual return on the money while it waits.
First, which down payment?
For a $600,000 purchase the rules produce three natural targets:
- $35,000 — the legal minimum: 5% of the first $500,000 plus 10% of the next $100,000. The mortgage is insured, and the premium is added to the loan.
- $60,000 — a round 10%. Still insured, but a lower premium and a smaller mortgage.
- $120,000 — 20%, which avoids mortgage insurance entirely.
Each target roughly doubles the one before it, so the calendar does too.
The timelines
| Target | $1,000/month | $2,000/month |
|---|---|---|
| $35,000 (minimum) | 34 months (2.8 yr) | 18 months (1.5 yr) |
| $60,000 (10%) | 57 months (4.8 yr) | 29 months (2.4 yr) |
| $120,000 (20%) | — | 57 months (4.8 yr) |
Three things stand out:
- Doubling the contribution roughly halves the wait. At $35K the jump from $1,000 to $2,000 a month saves 16 months; at $60K it saves 28.
- Return barely matters at this horizon. Over two to five years, 3% growth adds a few weeks, not years. The contribution is the whole story.
- 20% down at $1,000 a month is roughly a decade before any price growth — which is really an argument for asking whether the insured 5% or 10% route gets you in sooner at an acceptable cost.
A down payment is a race against a moving target. If prices rise 3% a year, the $35,000 minimum on today's $600K home is about $37,700 in three years — which pushes the $1,000-a-month saver from 34 months to roughly 37. Slow savers lose twice; fast savers barely notice.
What the FHSA changes
The First Home Savings Account doesn't change the target — it changes your effective monthly number. Contributions are tax-deductible (up to $8,000 a year, $40,000 lifetime), so a saver at a 30% marginal rate who puts the full $8,000 in gets roughly $2,400 back at tax time.
Recycle that refund into the account and $1,000 a month becomes, in effect, $1,200. On the $60,000 target that turns 57 months into 48 — nine months sooner, from money that was going to the CRA anyway. At $2,000 a month, the same refund on a $120K target trims 57 months to about 52.
The account has a quirk worth knowing: room only starts accumulating once it's open. If buying is even a maybe, open the FHSA before you need it.
Don't forget the money beside the down payment
Closing needs more than the down payment on hand: land transfer tax (around $16,000 in Toronto on $600K before first-time-buyer rebates), legal and inspection fees, and — on an insured mortgage in Ontario or Quebec — the sales tax on the insurance premium, due in cash. Adding $10,000 of closing costs to the 10% target stretches the $2,000-a-month saver from 29 months to about 34. Build it in from the start.
The takeaway
For a $600K home, a household saving $2,000 a month can reach the minimum down payment in about a year and a half, or 10% in two and a half years. At $1,000 a month those become three years and nearly five. An FHSA refund folded back in buys back most of a year on the longer path. Put your own home price, monthly figure, and existing savings into the down payment savings calculator — and once you have a date, check what income that mortgage needs in afford a home.
Down payment timelines delivered by Metrestick. Underlying data: Canadian mortgage qualification rules (minimum down payment, GDS/TDS stress test) and 2026 CRA tax parameters (Open Government Licence – Canada). Timelines assume a 3% annual return and no price growth unless stated; the FHSA refund example uses a 30% marginal rate. Illustrative, not advice.