Average-income families can no longer afford a detached house

Canadian Cities Where An Average Income Will No Longer Buy You A House

Average-income families can no longer afford a detached house in more than a quarter of Canada’ largest cities, according to an analysis carried out by The Huffington Post Canada.

UNAFFORDABLE: Greater Vancouver

Source: Local real estate board, Feb. 2014

MOST UNAFFORDABLE: Toronto

Source: Local real estate board, Feb. 2014

UNAFFORDABLE: Mississauga, Ont.

Source: Local real estate board, Feb. 2014

And while Toronto and Vancouver are famous for their high house prices, HuffPost’s survey shows those cities’ traditionally affordable suburbs are now out of reach for middle-income earners as well. In these cities, average earners have basically no choice but to buy a condo, or stay out of the housing market.

UNAFFORDABLE: Vaughan, Ont.

Source: Local real estate board, Feb. 2014

Of the 26 largest cities in Canada, seven fell into the “unaffordable” category — meaning the average sale price of a stand-alone home was at least $100,000 more than the maximum mortgage amount an average income will get you.

UNAFFORDABLE: Markham, Ont.

Source: Local real estate board, Feb. 2014

Among those cities were many formerly affordable suburbs, including Markham and Mississauga (greater Toronto), and Burnaby and Surrey (greater Vancouver).

Four cities — Calgary, Edmonton, Brampton, Ont., and Victoria, B.C. — fell into the “borderline” category. Middle-income earners in these cities could soon be priced out of the single-family home market, if prices there continue to grow faster than income, as has been the case in all of them except Victoria. (Prices there have been falling slowly for years.)

BORDERLINE: Brampton, Ont.