While measures have been made on a federal level to cool hot housing markets in Canada, the National Bank of Canada’s Housing Affordability Monitor is reporting that affordability is actually increasing in six Canadian cities, and Calgary is one of them.
In Calgary, monthly payments are down 0.8 per cent. This trend is due largely in part to lower home prices in Calgary and overall low mortgage rates.
To give some comparison, the average monthly mortgage payment in Calgary is now $2,050, compared to $4,268 in Vancouver (the most expensive). Reportedly, the income a home buyer needs to buy the average home in Calgary is $76,881, compared to $160,041 in Vancouver (the most expensive).
Vancouver’s affordability worsened by a slight 0.1 per cent, and it takes 75.1 per cent of an average income to afford the mortgage on a median home in the metro area. That was enough to bring overall national home affordability to its worst level since 2008, National Bank said, when mortgage rates were much higher than they are today. [Huffington Post]
So the grass is seemingly greener over here in Alberta! Even though mortgage rates recently started to rise with some lenders, due to the Bank of Canada increased rate, things remain at an affordable level for home buyers in Calgary. In fact, home prices are still favouring buyers, and even more so in the condo market, which is still dealing with a high inventory of listings.
If you are looking into homeownership, please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions!
