The Most Unaffordable City In North America

in business •  7 years ago 


People all over the world are finding it difficult to find affordable housing right now and in North America, one city reigns supreme-- Vancouver.

According to a recent study, by Point2Homes, that analyzed roughly 50 of the most populous cities around North America, Vancouver was found to have the most noticeable affordability gap. This means that New York and San Francisco fall behind Vancouver when it comes to the cost of housing.

17x the average annual income...


The study used the median multiple measurement in order to come to a conclusion and that consisted of comparing the median house prices to the average household incomes; this established an affordability ratio for them. Right now for Vancouver, that area was found to have a median multiple of more than 15.6 (that seen for Manhattan) and that means it requires 15x the average annual household income in order to afford an average home in the area. Vancouver was found to have a ratio of 17.3, with the average family income being around $63k.

According to the study results, homes in San Franciso and the New York area etc, still appear to be more expensive on the list price. However, Vancouver has a lower median income for those living in the city and that increases the affordability index. The average home sale prices are currently way above the average annual income of a family in the area.

It's suggest that for those who are living in Vancouver and who are earning less than $60,000 a year, that they are going to find it increasingly difficult if not near impossible for them to ever see home ownership. Though the tiny home movement might offer them a solution, as it has for a growing number in the US, Canada, and elsewhere.

Steadily rising prices of homes in many different countries has prompted many to even reconsider home-ownership altogether. Or to opt for alternatives like co-signing with unexpected parties in order to make their dream of owning a home into a reality.

The average home price in the city right now is around $1,108,345.

That means that the down-payment for an average home of that cost is around $220k or more. There aren't many families who have that kind of money sitting in the bank to put towards a down-payment. According to the study, if someone living in Vancouver who was earning roughly $63,944 per year, decided to dedicated every penny that they made toward paying off their mortgage payment, it would take them more than 17 years to pay it off.

For the US, the most expensive cities from the same study (following Vancouver) were seen to be cities like Manhattan, San Francisco, Brooklyn, New York, Los Angeles, and Boston.

Sources:
https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/j5jp3y/vancouver-ranked-most-unaffordable-housing-market-in-north-america
http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/report-calls-vancouver-most-unaffordable-real-estate-market-in-north-america
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/07/more-housing-markets-are-overvalued-and-consumers-feel-the-pain.html
http://dailyhive.com/vancouver/housing-vancouver-expensive-manhattan
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/crea-house-prices-1.4353165

Related Posts:

Researchers Say Tiny House Villages Are The Next Big Housing Trend

https://steemit.com/tinyhomes/@doitvoluntarily/researchers-say-tiny-house-villages-are-the-next-big-housing-trend

Tiny Houses Enabling The Poor To Become Homeowners

https://steemit.com/tinyhomes/@doitvoluntarily/tiny-houses-enabling-the-poor-to-become-home-owners

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And I'm over here thinking NYC is bad..

The housing market in Vancouver is the most insane of many insanely overpriced markets, in Canada and in other countries.

Toronto's market is heady, to say the least, and even in towns an hour or 2 outside of Toronto, houses are selling at double the price they listed at just 2 years ago.

This is not only "unaffordable," it's also unsustainable. Which is a polite way of saying it's a bubble that will burst. A big bubble, that will be followed by a big bust.

It's not a question of "IF" it's coming; it's simply a question of "WHEN." That's a tough question, since nobody can predict when the housing markets will crash.

But those bubbles has been inflating for a very long time. The longer they continue to be blown bigger and bigger, the more massive the crash will be.

And as time passes, the reckoning approaches. Inevitably and inexorably.

Dayum that's expensive. But it looks amazing there!

Thanks very good post !!!!

Awesome Work!

Keep it up!!!

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Thanks for sharing this information @doitvoluntarily ! I moved from Vancouver four hours east to Kelowna because it was so expensive to live there ! BUT : Its no cheaper here then it is there ! The only way for my 2 sons to be able to afford rent and myself is to spilt a 2.5 bedroom apartment that's old and costs 1,100.00 a month and that's just for rent , nothing included !! And because there's a major housing shortage here there's 0 vacancy now for over 2 years and non existent 2 or 3 bedroom places because everyone shares a place ! We also have over a thousand homeless because of all of this , you don't dare be late on your rent or the landlord says " there's zero vacancy in this town ! I can have your apartment rented tomorow so better pay up !!" they could care less if your out in street and its now -8 to -11 at night ! All the shelters and churches are full to capacity , a friend of ours lives on the street / he was a orchard worker that lived in the orchard in the summer / and now the season is over he he is homeless ! and says if he doesn't sign in by 7 pm at the shelter he's sleeping out side.
This is the reality where I live , and why im trying so hard to get my small house built on my country property an hour away , as soon as possible !! No more rent to pay ! Haha and retire early !!!! Woot , im hoping my dreams a reality by next summer ! FINGERS ALWAYS CROSSED THE PRICE OF STEEM GOES UP !! STEEM ON MY FRIEND!!👌💕✌👍😊
Im waiting on the Moon for the price of steem to go up !!!

Well, I guess we won't be moving to Vancouver any time soon. Thanks for the post. I always learn something new from you. 🐓🐓

Very informative post. Thanks for sharing. I live in Houston,Texas and I love the prices of the houses and the quality of life styles. There are so many people are moving in Texas because of the low cost of living. Thanks!

Wow, all that money to live in a cold climate. Not for me, thanks. Solid post.

Vancouver BC is not much different than Seattle WA. The average temperature August is said to be 64 degrees Fahrenheit but it was never lower than 70 when I went there several times over several years during the month of July. These are extremely "liveable" cities unless you consider the cost of living. Both cities have what I'd consider to be a problem with off shore developers swooping in and buying land, erecting luxury condominium high rise buildings, displacing affordable housing and the people who need it. Seattle also has the influence of Amazon buying up so much of the property, causing housing costs to quadruple in the city. Vancouver is subject to a lot of offshore opium money reinvested there. (editing...): I may not have realized that their winters were that cold, in which case- "yea, no kidding!, lol"

I can’t imagine trying to live there. I’m so spoiled by how cheap it is to live in

I will be honest, I spent a LOT of time there and in about 7 cities all around the area there in the lower mainland.

It was in the summer of 2006 and all my years in real estate,looking at the pricing out there, jobs, incomes, cars, was telling me even them before the Olympics came (but could see the construction already) -- this was not sustainable

And I mean I REALLY DUG IN out there paying attn to everyone and everything and the market.

Finally got to your page again buddy!

Annnnd, good nite!!

I have heard from good friends that they loved living in Vancouver but the very cold winters and too much snow for me. I have visited Toronto and loved the city life and had great food - but I love living in the States - Thanks for sharing this great post and have you been to Vancouver ????

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A dilemma for the millennials, like myself. To afford a house in the city centre, it is insane. Still prefer to rent for now and putting my money in other investment, rather than purchasing my own house.

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

INSANE. Not even worth it, in my view.

It does have some great views, but i can find those elsewhere (I'm flexible that way ).

The canadians can have it. And I love canadians, I really do - they're quite sensible & talented people, I have found.

I agree. Canadians are awesome.

I don't get why people accept such ridiculous prices for homes. Just sounds crazy.

Reasons may vary but in some cases it's where the tech companies set up camp. They hire tech talent and pay outrageously high salaries to attract the best and compete for all that consumer tech lust. I guess it's worth it if your in that bracket and you want to live close to work. Amazon owns most of an entire quadrant of space that surrounds Lake Union. They do run their own bus service to and from campus for employees that live in one or two surrounding suburbs. I think one of them is Redmond WA which isn't exactly affordable either.

Yes, it's all true. I'm here in Vancouver as a renter. The other part of this story is that I have been in my apartment which is the main floor of a Victorian style house for about 9 years. By law, the rent can only increase 30% and the rental market has increased to much more. So we have a problem with reno-victions. The owner evicts tenants so they can "renovate" and then charge 3 times more rent. The person, me, then is forced to move and pay the higher rent elsewhere. Thank goodness this hasn't happened to me but it could. It has happened to people I know and some are on a pension, elderly and have been long-term tenants.

Awesomeness ! Also upped and resteemed !!👍👍👍💕✌

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Great article about buying home/or place to live.

This is a global housing bubble and it is bound to crash at anytime.

Interesting blog and well done @doitvoluntarily. Upvoted and followed.

I would have guessed Denver.

whats the actual reason behind it ....and people are living in it means they have enough purchasing power to meet the criteria and afford the cost of living here

I'm glad that you're touching on the housing topic. It's become such a serious problem for increasingly vast numbers of people. I guess the inevitable is what animals, including myself are known for - adapting somehow. I also wonder what will become of these insane markets. Surely the developers have thought ahead, especially where their profits are involved. I'm looking forward to reading this one on Tiny House Villages. Sorry I missed it before. Take care.

Nice post Voted update

I agree, it's insane how big prices are in Vancouver and basically whole Canada. I can understand them being so expensive in NYC to be honest, it's in similar manner to London, but Canada is definitely doing something wrong here. A lot of people may never be able to even own a house, despite grinding for one for their whole lives. I come from EU and as long as I can say it's expensive here as well, compared to CA it's not.

I can see why it's so expensive.

I want to go one time USA.just tour.im coming

I beg to differ here, based on what I heard about it till now.

I heard that it's quite expensive in terms of accommodation especially. Is that true?