These Canadian cities have the most affordable home prices

For Canadians who earn an average income, it may feel like owning a home is so far out of reach.

This is especially true if you’re looking for real estate in major Canadian cities like Ottawa, Vancouver, and Calgary.

Thankfully, new research from Zoocasa has revealed cities that are good alternatives for people who can’t afford to buy a home beyond their means.

The real estate site analyzed 17 markets across Canada to learn where a homebuyer earning the median income in their city could afford a home at the city’s average price.

Here’s what they found.

Cities with the most affordable home prices

This may not be news to you, but the report found that smaller cities have more affordable real estate prices.

What’s interesting is that the median income in these locations is also usually lower than in major cities in BC or Ontario.

However, Zoocasa says since homes are “vastly more affordable” in smaller cities, there’s a “much lower threshold to hit” when it comes to how much people need to make to buy a house.

For example, while people in Saint John have one of the lowest median incomes of $79,000 among the 17 cities, the average home price is just $291,000.

That’s way lower than the maximum price of $365,166 median income earners could potentially afford in the city.

Zoocasa

Other cities that came out on top when it comes to housing affordability are Prince Edward Island, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, Edmonton and Quebec City.

All of those cities have home prices lower than the maximum price median income earners could afford.

“Buyers in Edmonton may be able to afford to buy a home up to a maximum of $429,456, while those in Regina have the largest gap between what the median income could afford and the average price, at just under $111,000,” reads the report.

Cities with the least affordable housing prices

Ottawa’s population has the biggest median income of $106,240, making a pretty high threshold for the maximum price of real estate they can buy ($491,085).

Despite this, the current average price of a property in the nation’s capital is at $652,700, over $160,000 higher than the highest-priced home median income earners can afford there.

Overall, Zoocasa found that 10 of 17 cities have home prices that are out of reach for median-income earners.

This includes the usual suspects like Vancouver and Toronto.

“In each, homes cost an average of over $1,000,000,” reads the report.

Even cities past the Greater Toronto Area like Barrie and Kitchener-Waterloo aren’t affordable, with average home prices ranging from $700,000 to over $800,000.