ldoto

Canada tops housing survey

Tue, January 23, 2007

London did well as a city in a study looking at the affordability of homes in six countries.

By IAN WILSON, SUN MEDIA



Canada is tops when it comes to housing affordability, said an international study that found citizens here would need only 3.2 years of annual income, on average, to buy a home.

The Demographia International survey of housing affordability -- which examined 159 cities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Britain and the U.S. -- found it takes more than twice as long to buy a home in Australia as it does in Canada.

By dividing house prices in individual markets by the annual gross household income in those cities, researchers determined how long it would take to purchase a home if all of the income was devoted to paying for it.

However, survey results also showed homes on Canada's West Coast are growing increasingly unattainable. Meanwhile, houses on the Prairies and in parts of Ontario remain affordable.

With 7.7 years of income typically needed to purchase a home, Vancouver ranked No. 13 out of the markets surveyed; Victoria was 25th.

Residents in Toronto and Calgary averaged 4.4 years of annual income to pay for a home, while Edmontonians can own a house in 3.5 years.

Regina was tied with Fort Wayne, Ind., and Youngstown, Ohio as the survey's most affordable city -- people there need just two years of income.

Quebec City, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Ottawa, London and Oshawa also placed highly on the list of affordable cities.

The least affordable city studied was Los Angeles and Orange County, where people needed 11.4 years of annual income to buy a home.

While it finished second to Canada in terms of overall affordability, the U.S. had seven of the top eight least affordable cities, with six of those coming from California.

"The housing cost escalation is principally the result of supply factors," said the study.

"Where there are significant constraints on the supply of land for residential development, housing inflation has occurred. Where there are no such constraints, housing cost inflation has not occurred."

CANADIAN RANKING

Median Median City price income

1. Regina $115,000 $57,500

2. Winnipeg $130,100 $52,300

Quebec $128,200 $51,100

4. Saskatoon $138,000 $52,100

5. Ottawa $201,500 $70,300

6. London $166,700 $56,100

Oshawa $222,900 $75,400

8. Halifax $176,000 $56,800

9. Kitchener $211,300 $65,500

10. Edmonton $233,800 $66,500

Hamilton $215,700 $61,300

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