Vancouver ranked North America's 2nd least affordable city for housing

We all know Vancouver is a pricey place to put down roots, and now, new results from a study conducted by  Zoocasa shows just how expensive the housing market here really is.

See also

• Toronto ranked one of North America's least affordable cities for housing
• Half of Canada's 10 most expensive penthouses are in Vancouver (PHOTOS)
• Trudeau pushes federal housing plan during Metro Vancouver visit

The study examined home affordability relative to incomes and found that Canada’s largest markets rank just as high as the hottest ones in the US – including those that have seen prices recover beyond their pre-recession peaks.

Based on December 2018 home prices, a 20% down payment, and a 30-year mortgage at a fixed rate of 3.75% for Canadians, Zoocasa ranked 35 North American cities from least to most affordable based on the difference between actual median household incomes and the income required to buy the median-priced home.

The study concluded that Vancouver is not only Canada’s most expensive housing market, it’s also the 2nd most expensive market in North America, falling only behind San Fransisco.

Vancouver was the only Canadian city in the top 10, as Canada’s largest city, Toronto, landed in 11th place.

In that case, the study found that a Torontonian earning the median income of $65,829 (USD $49,495) faces a gap of $25,431 (USD $19,121), while households in Miami that earn the median income of USD $33,999, still fall $20,733 below what they’d need to earn to qualify for a mortgage on the median-priced home.

Zoocasa

The city landed in the less-than-desirable spot with with an income gap of $99,517 (USD $74,825) compared to the median income of $65,327 (USD $49,118).

When it comes to affordability, three of the Canadian cities studied are considered affordable, compared to 14 American cities.

Montreal ranks 20th on the list and has an income surplus of USD $4,161, in line with Las Vegas and Philadelphia, which have income surpluses of USD $3,215 and USD $6,869, respectively.

Ottawa, was the sixth most affordable city in the study, with an income surplus of $27,714 (USD $16,326), based on the median income of $85,981 (USD $64,647).

Calgary real estate is the most affordable of all the studied markets, with an impressive surplus of $40,297 (USD $30,298) and a median household income of $97,334 (USD $73, 183).

How Canadian and US markets rank in housing affordability:

Zoocasa