Here's How Many Years You Need To Save To Afford A House In Calgary & It Beats Vancouver
Calgary and Edmonton are among the most affordable housing markets in Canada!
Condo buildings in Calgary. Right: For sale sign outside a house.
If you were planning on leaving Alberta in search of buying your dream house, you might want to rethink it. Calgary and Edmonton have some of the most affordable house prices in the country and you won't have to save for half your life to buy a property — unlike in other Canadian cities.
The National Bank of Canada shared its Housing Affordability Monitor for the first quarter of the year, and it showed that those looking to buy property in both Calgary and Edmonton are actually getting a pretty good deal compared to some other places.
According to the report, the first few months of the year showed the "worst quarterly deterioration in 27 years" with Victoria, Toronto, Vancouver and Hamilton seeing the highest deterioration of housing affordability.
Calgary and Edmonton only saw home prices increase by 1.7% and 1.1%, respectively.
Data on each city's median household income and home prices were analyzed, to determine just how long you'd need to save to buy a property in each city.
If you're looking to buy a house in Cowtown, you'll still need to be saving for a few years to make it happen.
With an annual household income of at least $108,353, you'd need to save for 38 months – or just over three years – in order to afford a down payment on a home worth $533,082. And that's with saving 10% of your paycheck.
For a condo, this drops a bit, and with an annual income of $49,998 you'd need to save for 16 months.
In Edmonton, you're in with an even better chance of home ownership, needing to save only 31 months with an income of $90,807 to afford a down payment on a home worth $445,295.
For condos, the annual income needed shrinks to $45,217 and you'd only need to save for 15 months for the down payment.
It might seem like a long time, but just look at Vancouver and you'll feel instantly better. With an annual household income of $285,078 and a saving rate of 10%, you would need to put away money for a long 452 months for a down payment on a home worth $1,660,074. That is just over 37 years!
So, maybe three years of saving isn't so bad after all.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.