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Metro Vancouver housing becomes most unaffordable ever recorded in RBC surveys
Derrick Penner, Vancouver Sun
Published: Thursday, January 24, 2008

VANCOUVER -- Metro Vancouver's housing, in the third quarter of 2007, became the most unaffordable it has been on RBC's measure of affordability since the bank started tracking the issue.

RBC, in its latest report released Jan. 24, found that it took 75 per cent of Metro Vancouver's median pre-tax income to afford an average two-storey Metro Vancouver home, which carried a $619,892 price tag.

In the second quarter of 2007, the measure was 73 per cent of a median household income.

For a more modest detached bungalow with a $599,249 average price, it required 72 per cent of the median household income in the third quarter, compared with 71 per cent in the second quarter.

Condominiums were the most affordable option on RBC's scale, with an average-priced apartment of $298,787 eating up almost 37 per cent of median household income.

In the second quarter, it required almost 36 per cent of median household income to pay for the mortgage, fees and taxes on that same apartment.

"Vancouver had another across-the-board deterioration last year, but the pace of deterioration slowed substantially by year end," RBC said in its report.

"We expect some affordability relief to materialize this year as the significant erosion [in affordability] weighs on demand."

With RBC's latest report, British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan all set new records for the share of income going towards homeownership costs.

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There are few comments and some people are talking about leaving BC, good idea, too.