Vancouver is the third most unaffordable among a survey of major world cities, according to an international study.And with affordability deteriorating faster than any other city. Vancouver also has the worst housing bubble risk, the study says.
Meanwhile, a new poll shows that millennials across B.C. say Vancouver is the first place they would like to move to, if money was no object.
The 2017 Demographia International Housing affordability Survey, which compares median house prices to median household incomes to generate an affordability ratio, surveys 406 metro housing markets in 9 countries. A median multiple value of 3.0- meaning a home costs about three times annual household income- is deemed affordable in Demographia’s study.
vancouver is rated severely unaffordable with a median multiple value of 11.8, Hong Kong is the survey’s most unaffordable city.And in Australia, Sydney is slightly
more expensive than Vancouver, with 12.2 median multiple value.
There are serious consequences for residents, the survey says. The higher houses prices reduce discretionary incomes, which reduces potential standards of living and raises relative poverty rates.
Toronto has the second least affordable housing among major cities in Canada, the survey says, with a median multiple value of 7.7.
Demographia has been publishing its housing study since 2004. Vancouver was rated severely unaffordable that year with a median of 5.4. And while Vancouver is still more affordable than Hong Kong, in comparison, the study suggests the trend in Vancouver is getting worse for middle income earners. This year’s survey said Vancouver has experienced the greatest housing affordability deterioration among major markets.
According to Demographia, data shows Vancouver is now experiencing modest out-migration, with more people moving away than than moving into the city.
The survey notes that the UBS Global Real Estate Bubble index rates Vancouver as having the world’s worst housing bubble risk.