Housing affordability in most major markets continued to worsen in the fourth quarter despite a slight easing of home prices.
And despite some relief that’s expected if the Bank of Canada begins cutting interest rates later this year, RBC Economics predicts it will take “many years” before borrowers see any meaningful improvement to housing affordability.
For a household earning a median income, it now takes a “staggering” 63.5% of that income to cover the costs associated with owning an average home, according to the latest data from RBC Economics. That’s up from 61.3% in the previous quarter.
It also found that the monthly mortgage payment—for an average-priced home of $796,300 in the country’s key housing markets—rose by 3.3%, or more than $125, to an average of $3,990.
RBC noted that the biggest deterioration in…
