What a flex: Edmonton named one of the most affordable cities in the world

Edmonton is nearly at the top of the pack for global cities with the most affordable housing markets. We love to see it!

According to newly released findings from Urban Reform Institute’s Demographia International Housing Affordability Study for 2021, Edmonton’s median multiple is at a 3.6, the lowest in Canada and fourth-lowest globally.

We feel sorry for all the other Canadian cities, truly!

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The study evaluates the world’s housing affordability in 92 markets in 8 countries, including Australia, Canada, China, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, the U.K., and the U.S.

Cities with a median multiple of 3.0 and under have “affordable” housing markets, while the range from 3.1 to 4.0 is “moderately affordable,” 4.1 to 5.0 is “seriously unaffordable,” and 5.1 and over is “severely unaffordable.”

The study ranked a total of 92 global cities. Based on the six major Canadian cities ranked, Canada has a median multiple of 6.0 — up from 4.4 in pre-pandemic 2019. Canada saw the largest increase amongst the nations included in the study.

The most affordable housing markets are Pittsburgh at 2.7, Oklahoma City and Rochester tied at 3.3, and Edmonton and St. Louis tied at 3.6. Calgary is tied at 10th place with Kansas City, Louisville, Tulsa, and Detroit for the most affordable markets. Come through Calgary!

In what is no shocker to anyone, Vancouver was ranked as the least affordable housing market in the country and the third least affordable in the world. Ouch!

Toronto follows Vancouver as the second least affordable housing market in the country, with the report adding that “overall housing affordability in Toronto has deteriorated precipitously.”

Frontier Centre for Public Policy

20 least affordable housing markets in the world in 2021

1. Hong Kong: 23.2
2. Sydney, Australia: 15.3
3. Vancouver, Canada: 13.3
4. San Jose, USA 12.6
5. Melbourne, Australia: 12.1
6. Honolulu, USA: 12.0
7. San Francisco, USA: 11.8
8. Auckland, New Zealand: 11.2
9. Los Angeles, USA: 10.7
10. Toronto, Canada: 10.5
11. San Diego, USA 10.1
12. Miami, USA: 8.1
13. London, UK: 8.0
14. Adelaide, Australia: 8.0
15. Seattle, USA: 7.5
16. Riverside-San Bernardino, USA: 7.4
17. Brisbane, Australia: 7.4
18. Denver, USA: 7.2
19. New York City, USA: 7.1
20. Perth, Australia: 7.1

With files from Daily Hive’s Kenneth Chan