This calculation is not really showing the whole truth. If the couple starts with a condo first, they can easily jump over the glitch of a 20% downpayment. After they sold their condo for 400-500K they will easily be able to qualify for a home worth 1.4 million at the 4.84 qualifying rate and they could go as far as 1.6 at the actual rates. Do the calculation yourself. And if we assume this young power couple has two condos to start with that they owned as singles before, they can land in the 2 million plus. If the government is serious about cooling the market they need to get the banks to have skin in the game, open MLS data for everyone to see, introduce foreign buyers tax and charge land transfer tax and capital gains on assignment contracts of new developments. This market is driven by the lenders, realtors and investors/speculators (foreign and domestic alike).