Only four Canadian cities saw the cost of home ownership improve and Edmonton was one
A new report from the Fraser Institute found housing affordability worsened across Canada from 2014 to 2023, but Edmonton was one of the few major cities that saw a minor improvement in the upfront cost of buying a home.
The think tankās study found home prices and rents rose faster than the median after-tax family income over the decade, leaving first-time homeowners in nearly every major city facing steeper barriers, from larger down payments to higher mortgage costs.
On average across Canadian cities, a 20 per cent down payment on an average home climbed from around 14.1 months of median family income in 2014 to 22 months in 2023, a 56 per cent jump. Mortgage payments also increased sharply, from 29.9 per cent in 2014 to 56.6 per cent of income in 2023.
The report says that by 2023, no major Canadian city had homes on the market that were affordable for families earning the local median income without either an unusually large down payment or outside financial help.
Fraser Institute
Renters were also hit. Median rent for all unit types rose from 19.8 per cent to 23.5 per cent of median after-tax income nationally, and almost every city saw rental affordability worsen.
Affordability pressures varied widely across the country, with Vancouver and Toronto remaining outliers as the least affordable markets in both 2014 and 2023. Cities in Quebec, the Prairies and Atlantic Canada generally fared better, though most still experienced declines.
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Edmonton, alongside Regina, Saskatoon and St. Johnās, was the only Canadian city where the months of income needed for a 20 per cent down payment actually fell. The report attributes that to an improvement in the ratio of benchmark home prices to local median incomes.
Fraser Institute
Still, like every other city, Edmonton saw mortgage payments take up a larger portion of income due to higher interest rates.
You can find the full report on the Fraser Institute website.