. A rule of lending is that the borrower shouldn’t spend more than 35 per cent of their gross income on mortgage payments, property taxes and utilities – mainly heat. RBC’s data show these housing costs would eat up 82 per cent of the median pretax household income in Vancouver, 66 per cent in the Toronto area, 58.6 per cent in Victoria and 51.4 per cent for Canada as a whole.
Vancouver remains deadly to aspiring homeowners despite a decline that saw the average resale price in May almost 9 per cent lower than a year earlier. Toronto’s market has slumped as well, but May results suggested a possible turnaround. And Victoria is riding some kind of la-la land wave that keeps prices moving higher.
Mortgage rates have backed off a bit lately, and that could help affordability in the second half in Vancouver, Victoria and Toronto. Bigger mortgage rate declines would help even more, but we’re not likely to see those unless the economy tanks. If that happens, people are going to be thinking more about their job security than opportunities to buy homes in Toronto and Vancouver.
globemoney Not many affordable homes but lots of green space because you can never have enough green space. And everyone moves to the city to be close to nature.
globemoney Sunny Ways my Friends