Multiple Canadian Cities Are Among The 'Least Affordable' In The World In 2021
Buying property in Canada isn’t cheap. In fact, Canada's least-affordable cities are actually among the most expensive in the world!
The annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey — which measures average income in relation to housing prices across eight nations — found that multiple Canadian cities can be considered as “severely unaffordable" in 2021.
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Per the data, Vancouver has the second most unaffordable housing market (of all markets considered), beat only by Hong Kong.
Sydney and Auckland take third and fourth place respectively, while Toronto swoops in to take fifth place as one of the most unaffordable markets to buy property worldwide.
They’re not the only Canadian regions to take a top spot in the ranking, either!
The research
The annual report considers how expensive 92 major housing markets are across eight different countries.
This includes Australia, Canada, China (Hong Kong), Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Each market’s affordability is ranked by comparing median incomes to housing prices during the third quarter of 2020.
Unaffordable housing markets
In the study's ranking of major housing markets by affordability, multiple Canadian cities are rated rock-bottom — which means they're considered to be "severely unaffordable."
While Vancouver and Toronto were in the bottom five, Montreal is also listed as being seriously pricey when it comes to buying property.
It scores in 66th place, alongside cities like Las Vegas in the U.S. and Dublin in Ireland.
The Ottawa-Gatineau region also ranks in the data’s "red-zone" of affordability, coming in 57th place with a price-to-income ratio of 5.2.
Affordable housing markets
At the other end of the spectrum, housing markets in the U.S. dominate as being the most affordable.
Cities like Pittsburgh, Rochester, Buffalo, St. Louis and Tulsa take the top-spots.
The first non-American market to top the ranking is Edmonton, with a price-to-income ratio of 3.8.
Calgary also scores relatively well on the list, scoring 4.1 and placing in the top half of the ranking.