Price-to-income ratio needed to buy a home in every Metro Vancouver municipality

The price-to-income ratio needed to buy a home across Metro Vancouver

Housing. (Shutterstock)

There should be no surprise which city in British Columbia ranked dead last in affordability for single-person households.

A new report by Zoocasa, a Toronto-based real estate brokerage firm, found that the City of Vancouver had the worst house price-to-income ratio for single individuals, with a staggering ratio of 32 to acquire an average priced property of $1.229 million on a median income of $38,449.

For the dual-incomes, the ratio is less at 14, but it is still considerably higher than the ideal price-to-income ratio of no higher than three, according to personal finance experts.

These ratios represent the number of years it would take to cover the average home in full, with the assumption that a household dedicates 100% of its annual income to pay it off. It is based on the average home price in July 2018 listed by regional real estate boards and the median household income data from Statistics Canada.

Neighbouring suburban municipalities in the region fair better the farther away they are from Vancouver:

Vancouver
- Ratio: 32 single; 14 double+
- Average house price: $1.229 million
- Median income: $38,449
Richmond
- Ratio: 31 single; 13 double+
- Average house price: $1.034 million
- Median income: $33,578
Burnaby
- Ratio: 29 single; 12 double+
- Average house price: $1.008 million
- Median income: $34,416
North Vancouver
- Ratio: 27 single; 12 double+
- Average house price: $1.126 million
- Median income: $41,687
Coquitlam
- Ratio: 25 single; 11 double+
- Average house price: $980,400
- Median income: $38,505
Langley
- Ratio: 25 single; 10 double+
- Average house price: $818,500
- Median income: $33,268
Delta
- Ratio: 24 single; 9 double+
- Average house price: $966,400
- Median income: $40,204
Surrey
- Ratio: 23 single; 10 double+
- Average house price: $883,500
- Median income: $37,675
Maple Ridge
- Ratio: 21 single; 7 double+
- Average house price: $742,900
- Median income: $36,186
Abbotsford
- Ratio: 20 single; 7 double+
- Average house price: $650,000
- Median income: $32,863
Port Moody
- Ratio: 19 single; 9 double+
- Average house price: $972,500
- Median income: $50,887
New Westminster
- Ratio: 19 single; 8 double+
- Average house price: $736,900
- Median income: $39,000
Port Coquitlam
- Ratio: 18 single; 8 double+
- Average house price: $780,200
- Median income: $42,810

The BC municipality that has the most affordable price-to-income ratio is Prince George, with a single-income ratio of nine and a dual-income ratio of four to cover an average home price of $347,470.

Kamloops follows with a single-income ratio of 12 and a dual-income ratio of four for an average home price of $406,768.

See also