Portugal, Canada, and the United States were the countries with the highest house price to income ratio in 2023. In all three countries, the index exceeded 130 index points, while the average for all OECD countries stood at 117.5 index points. The index measures the development of housing affordability and is calculated by dividing nominal house price by nominal disposable income per head, with 2015 set as a base year when the index amounted to 100. An index value of 120, for example, would mean that house price growth has outpaced income growth by 20 percent since 2015. How have house prices worldwide changed since the COVID-19 pandemic? House prices started to rise gradually after the global financial crisis (2007–2008), but this trend accelerated with the pandemic. The countries with advanced economies, which usually have mature housing markets, experienced stronger growth than countries with emerging economies. Real house price growth (accounting for inflation) peaked in 2022 and has since lost some of the gain. Although, many countries experienced a decline in house prices, the global house price index shows that property prices in 2023 were still substantially higher than before COVID-19. Renting vs. buying In the past, house prices have grown faster than rents. However, the home affordability has been declining notably, with a direct impact on rental prices. As people struggle to buy a property of their own, they often turn to rental accommodation. This has resulted in a growing demand for rental apartments and soaring rental prices.

The average Canadian house price declined slightly in 2023, after four years of consecutive growth. The average house price stood at 678,282 Canadian dollars in 2023 and was forecast to reach 722,063 Canadian dollars by 2025. Home sales on the rise The number of housing units sold is also set to increase over the two-year period. From 443,511 units sold, the annual number of home sales in the country is expected to fall to 489,661 in 2024. British Columbia and Ontario have traditionally been housing markets with prices above the Canadian average, and both are set to witness an increase in sales in 2024. How did Canadians feel about the future development of house prices? When it comes to consumer confidence in the performance of the real estate market in the next six months, Canadian consumers in 2024 mostly expected that the market would go up. A slightly lower share of the respondents believed real estate prices would remain the same.

The average house price in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island stood at 382,659 Canadian dollars in 2023 and was expected to decline in the next two years. By 2025, the average house price is forecast to reach 375,867 Canadian dollars. Compared to other provinces in Canada, Prince Edward Island stood below the national average in terms of house prices. Nevertheless, housing was still significantly more expensive than in Newfoundland and New Brunswick. House prices in Canada Prince Edward Island is one of the most affordable Canadian provinces for buying a house, with prices almost half below the national median in 2023. The national figure is somewhat skewed however by the extremely high cost of housing in British Colombia, and, to a lesser extent, Ontario. A better measure of affordability is the provincial house-price-to-income ratio, which shows Prince Edward Island to be the second most affordable province. Global comparison Canada is one of the most expensive countries in the OECD in terms of house-price-to-income ratio. In 2022, Canada scored higher than the United States, the UK, and Korea. That means that the cost of housing has increased at a much higher rate than the average income in the country.

The average price for a house in Quebec stood at approximately 487,000 Canadian dollars in 2023 and was set to increase slightly in the next two years. In 2025, the average price is forecast to reach 512,000 Canadian dollars. Meanwhile, the national average house price was forecast to pick up in 2025. Compared to other provinces, Quebec was the third-most expensive province to buy housing in Canada, after British Columbia and Ontario. Quebec Located on the eastern side of Canada, Quebec had an estimated population of almost nine million people in 2022. It is the second most populated province in Canada, and the second-largest by land size, as it is three times the size of Texas. The largest city in Quebec is Montreal, which is close to the Vermont border in the United States. The median total family income in Quebec has been steadily rising since 2000. Housing Prices in Canada Housing prices in Canada vary province to province. The most expensive average house price was in British Columbia in 2022. Vancouver, the most populated city in British Columbia, is known for its high-priced real estate market. However, housing prices all over Canada have increased in the past couple of years.

The average house price in British Columbia in 2023 stood at about 971,000 Canadian dollars and, according to the forecast, is set to decrease by less than one percent, reaching 966,000 Canadian dollars in the following year. Nevertheless, this downward trend is expected to reverse in 2025. The average house price in Canada is forecast to grow in the next two years.

New housing price index (NHPI). Monthly data are available from January 1981. The table presents data for the most recent reference period and the last four periods. The base period for the index is (201612=100).

After surging in 2021, sales activity in the Canadian housing market slowed down in the next two years. According to the forecast, the number of home sales in 2025 is expected to reach almost 525,500. The Canadian residential housing market is going through a period of change because the skyrocketing home prices are being tempered by various governmental interventions. One of the measures is such as a two-year ban on foreign purchases. Additionally, the government introduced a tax on vacant foreign-owned housing and a tax on assignment sales - resales of homes that have not been constructed or lived in before the time of the sale.

The house price-to-income ratio in Australia was 122.1 as of the third quarter of 2024. This ratio, calculated by dividing nominal house prices by nominal disposable income per head, increased from the previous quarter. The price-to-income ratio can be used to measure housing affordability in a specific area. Australia's property bubble There has been considerable debate over the past decade about whether Australia is in a property bubble or not. A property bubble refers to a sharp increase in the price of property that is disproportional to income and rental prices, followed by a decline. In Australia, rising house prices have undoubtedly been an issue for many potential homeowners, pricing them out of the market. Along with the average house price, high mortgage interest rates have exacerbated the issue. Is the homeownership dream out of reach? Housing affordability has varied across the different states and territories in Australia. In 2024, the median value of residential houses was the highest in Sydney compared to other major Australian cities, with Brisbane becoming an increasingly expensive city. Nonetheless, expected interest rate cuts in 2025, alongside the expansion of initiatives to improve Australia's dwelling stock, social housing supply, and first-time buyer accessibility to properties, may start to improve the situation. These encompass initiatives such as the Australian government's Help to Buy scheme and the Housing Australia Future Fund Facility (HAFFF) and National Housing Accord Facility (NHAF) programs.

Home affordability has worsened substantially in Canada since 2021. In January 2023, the monthly single-family mortgage payment amounted to approximately 66 percent of a household's income, on average. In 2021, when affordability had improved slightly, the average mortgage payment constituted 47 percent of a household's income.

House prices in British Columbia and Ontario were notably higher than any other province in Canada in 2023. The average house price in any other province was less than 500,000 Canadian dollars, whereas in British Columbia and Ontario, it exceeded 800,000 Canadian dollars. The most affordable province to buy a home was Newfoundland, where the average home cost about 293,573 Canadian dollars.

In 2023, there were fewer new home construction starts in Canada than in the previous year. Construction starts peaked in 2021, when there were 271,200 housing units whose construction started that year. Despite the restrictions imposed in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry managed to continue operating, with increases in the number of housing starts in 2020 and 2021. How many homes are under development? In 2022, the number of housing units that were under construction in Canada was approximately 334,000 units. After a period of stagnation until 2016, the housing industry witnessed a significant surge in construction activity, with an annual growth rate of nearly 9.5 percent. Numerous factors are attributed to this rise, including the heightened demand for housing, an expanding economy that encouraged investment, and the response to the shortage of housing. How expensive are homes in Canada? In 2023, the average cost of a house in Canada was around 678,282 Canadian dollars. The average house price had fallen that year by 25,593 Canadian dollars compared in 2023 compared to the previous year. Another way to measure the trends in housing prices is the house price-to-income ratio. It measures the development of housing affordability and is calculated by dividing the nominal house price by the nominal disposable income per head. The house price-to-income ratio in Canada fell by 15.8 percentage points between the second quarter of 2022 and that same quarter in 2023, indicating that house values decreased in relation to earnings. This makes homeownership in Canada more challenging due to the decreasing affordability of dwellings.