Vancouver real estate has become less affordable in the past year, as a multiple of the average household’s median income, but the city’s global rank for unaffordability slipped, according to global real estate research firm Demographia.
Demographia ranked Vancouver as the third least affordable city in nine selected countries, behind Hong Kong and Sydney, with home prices at a multiple of 10.8 times the average household's income.
Last year, Vancouver ranked as the second least affordable city in those countries with home prices at a 10.6 multiple of the average household's income. Vancouver had been ranked No. 2 for at least four consecutive years.
“The Demographia survey list of the least affordable metropolitan areas is largely echoed by UBS, the international financial services company headquartered in Switzerland,” the report noted.
“The UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index ranks London, Hong Kong, Sydney and Vancouver as most vulnerable to risk from a real estate bubble.”
Demographia provided data for 367 housing markets in Australia, Canada, China (Hong Kong but not mainland China), Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, United Kingdom and the U.S.
It pinned the average Vancouver home price at US$756,200 and the median household income at US$69,700.
The next least affordable Canadian city was Victoria, which ranked No. 34 in Demographia's nine selected countries with a 6.9 multiple. Victoria had an average home price of US$458,300 and an average median household income of US$66,500.
Demographia has explained that the reason why it only ranks cities in nine countries is that in many other countries real estate price information is not reliable.
Here are the most affordable major metropolitan areas ranked by Demographia:
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