The housing market in Canada is becoming more affordable

Affordable housing is one of the sensitive issues in Canada today. Students are looking for inexpensive apartments to rent in college cities and towns, families with children are trying to move into their own houses.

For the past six months, economists and real estate experts have been actively monitoring changes in interest rates and terms mortgages to predict: how the real estate market will respond to the changes.

The National Bank of Canada, the nation's sixth largest commercial bank, did its own study, and here's what it showed: housing affordability has become better in the past four years, and these are pre-pandemic figures but that doesn't mean it is possible to buy a house next week.

Some basic indicators were used for the analysis: housing in major metropolitan areas as well as apartment and house prices. The goal was to determine how many months it takes an average Canadian family to save up money for a down payment on a house. However, there was a condition: if the family saves 10% of their income before taxes are deducted.

Economists found that Vancouver is doing better, although it remains one of the most "unaffordable" cities in the country to buy a house. Better changes are happening in Hamilton and Toronto. Calgary, Edmonton and Quebec City did not perform much improvement.

Experts point to several factors that are bringing housing affordability closer: non-increasing interest rates, rising incomes and savings during COVID-19.

If we look at the numbers how much time it takes under these conditions to save up for a down payment to buy a house, here is the result:

1. Quebec – 2 years and 3 months.
2. Montreal – 3 years and 9 months.
3. Ottawa – 4 years and 7 months.
4. Toronto – 25 years and 3 months.
5. Vancouver – 37 years and 10 months.

In this article we wrote about the Conservative Party's attempts to propose a solution to the housing difficulties, and here is whether Canadians are ready to own their own house.