Home prices still out of reach for most

Despite dropping home prices, home ownership remains out of reach for most Canadians.

The latest semi-annual review of ownership affordability in Canada by RBC Economics reports that lower prices and cheap mortgages are helping a little, but two-thirds of Canadian households still earn less than the qualifying income for a styandard two-story home.

To buy a standard condo in Canada — read the report to see what that means — requires an annual household income of $46,200. Abhout 41 percent of Canadian households are below that level. More than half of Canadian families could not afford a standard townhome.

The report says BC’s affordability index had the steepest drop — good news — but sales are picking up,  so the bottom may have been reached. Thanks to Tom Durning at TRAC for pointing out this report.