Oh, Canada. As real estate markets across the country continue to skyrocket in price (and amp up our stress levels), it appears we Canucks are actually doing relatively well compared to other locations across the globe.
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According to a recent report from UK-based building supplier Roofing Megastore, Canada sits at number 14 for most affordable homes, beating out the likes of Sweden, Italy, Australia and the United Kingdom. The top three? That belongs to Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United States.
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As reported in the Daily Hive and the Roofing Megastore report, the average Canadian salary covers only 8.53 per cent of the cost of the average home — a number that is frighteningly low. It’s estimated that it would take 11.7 years to save up enough money to buy a home. That being said, Canada was still able to beat out plenty of other countries when it came to that price-to-salary ratio.
For example, it would take an Italian with an average salary 14.3 years to save up money for a house while it would take someone from the UK just over 15 years to save up enough dough.
None of this is to say that the Canadian housing market is by any means fair or affordable. According to RBC, housing affordability across the country is at its worst levels in 30 years. Looking at the bank’s aggregate measure of housing affordability in September 2021, it shows that home ownership costs are more than 45 per cent of the median household income. In particular (and unsurprisingly), Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa saw the largest uptick percentage-wise for soaring house prices.
We may rank 14th in the world for overall housing affordability, but it’s still nowhere near manageable for a person making an average salary in this country.
Read the full UK-based Roofing Megastore report here.
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