The house price ratio in Canada peaked in the second quarter of 2022, followed by three quarters of decline and a slight rebound in 2023. The ratio 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. Canada's index score in the third quarter of 2024 amounted to 136.8, which means that house price growth has outpaced income growth by almost 37 percent since 2015. Canadian home prices are fallingAfter several years of steady increase, Canadian house prices were forecast to fall slightly in 2023. This was also the case in British Columbia, which has consistently been the most expensive province for housing. This is likely because Vancouver, Canada's most expensive city, is located there. Canadian incomes on the riseIncomes in Canada have steadily risen since 2000 and show no signs of slowing down in the near future. This should improve housing affordability, as long as home price growth slows down.

Portugal, Canada, and the United States were the countries with the highest house price to income ratio in 2024. In all three countries, the index exceeded 130 index points, while the average for all OECD countries stood at 116.2 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.

Data on resident buyers who are persons that purchased a residential property in a market sale and filed their T1 tax return form: number of and incomes of residential property buyers, sale price, price-to-income ratio by the number of buyers as part of a sale, age groups, first-time home buyer status, buyer characteristics (sex, family type, immigration status, period of immigration, admission category).

Graph and download economic data for Residential Property Prices for Canada (QCAN628BIS) from Q1 1970 to Q4 2024 about Canada, residential, HPI, housing, price index, indexes, and price.

The average resale house price in Canada was forecast to reach nearly 836,000 Canadian dollars in 2026, according to a January forecast. In 2024, house prices increased after falling for the first time since 2019. One of the reasons for the price correction was the notable drop in transaction activity. Housing transactions picked up in 2024 and are expected to continue to grow until 2026. British Columbia, which is the most expensive province for housing, is projected to see the average house price reach 1.2 million Canadian dollars in 2026. Affordability in Vancouver Vancouver is the most populous city in British Columbia and is also infamously expensive for housing. In 2023, the city topped the ranking for least affordable housing market in Canada, with the average homeownership cost outweighing the average household income. There are a multitude of reasons for this, but most residents believe that foreigners investing in the market cause the high housing prices. Victoria housing market The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, where housing prices are also very high. The price of a single family home in Victoria's most expensive suburb, Oak Bay was 1.9 million Canadian dollars in 2024.

This dataset includes one dataset which was custom ordered from Statistics Canada.The table includes information on housing suitability and shelter-cost-to-income ratio by number of bedrooms, housing tenure, age of primary household maintainer, household type, and income quartile ranges for census subdivisions in British Columbia.

The dataset is in Beyond 20/20 (.ivt) format. The Beyond 20/20 browser is required in order to open it. This software can be freely downloaded from the Statistics Canada website:
https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/public/beyond20-20 (Windows only).
For information on how to use Beyond 20/20, please see:
http://odesi2.scholarsportal.info/documentation/Beyond2020/beyond20-quickstart.pdf
https://wiki.ubc.ca/Library:Beyond_20/20_Guide

Custom order from Statistics Canada includes the following dimensions and variables:

Geography:
Non-reserve CSDs in British Columbia - 299 geographies
The global non-response rate (GNR) is an important measure of census data quality. It combines total non-response (households) and partial non-response (questions). A lower GNR indicates a lower risk of non-response bias and, as a result, a lower risk of inaccuracy. The counts and estimates for geographic areas with a GNR equal to or greater than 50% are not published in the standard products. The counts and estimates for these areas have a high risk of non-response bias, and in most cases, should not be released.

Housing Tenure Including Presence of Mortgage (5)
1. Total – Private non-band non-farm off-reserve households with an income greater than zero by housing tenure
2. Households who own
3. With a mortgage1
4. Without a mortgage
5. Households who rent
Notes: 1) Presence of mortgage - Refers to whether the owner households reported mortgage or loan payments for their dwelling.

2015 Before-tax Household Income Quartile Ranges (5)
1. Total – Private households by quartile ranges1, 2, 3
2. Count of households under or at quartile 1
3. Count of households between quartile 1 and quartile 2 (median) (including at quartile 2)
4. Count of households between quartile 2 (median) and quartile 3 (including at quartile 3)
5. Count of households over quartile 3
Notes: 1) A private household will be assigned to a quartile range depending on its CSD-level location and depending on its tenure (owned and rented). Quartile ranges for owned households in a specific CSD are delimited by the 2015 before-tax income quartiles of owned households with an income greater than zero and residing in non-farm off-reserve dwellings in that CSD. Quartile ranges for rented households in a specific CSD are delimited by the 2015 before-tax income quartiles of rented households with an income greater than zero and residing in non-farm off-reserve dwellings in that CSD.
2) For the income quartiles dollar values (the delimiters) please refer to Table 1.
3) Quartiles 1 to 3 are suppressed if the number of actual records used in the calculation (not rounded or weighted) is less than 16. For cases in which the renters’ quartiles or the owners’ quartiles (figures from Table 1) of a CSD are suppressed the CSD is assigned to a quartile range depending on the provincial renters’ or owners’ quartile figures.

Number of Bedrooms (Unit Size) (6)
1. Total – Private households by number of bedrooms1
2. 0 bedrooms (Bachelor/Studio)
3. 1 bedroom
4. 2 bedrooms
5. 3 bedrooms
6. 4 bedrooms
Note: 1) Dwellings with 5 bedrooms or more included in the total count only.

Housing Suitability (6)
1. Total - Housing suitability
2. Suitable
3. Not suitable
4. One bedroom shortfall
5. Two bedroom shortfall
6. Three or more bedroom shortfall
Note: 1) 'Housing suitability' refers to whether a private household is living in suitable accommodations according to the National Occupancy Standard (NOS); that is, whether the dwelling has enough bedrooms for the size and composition of the household. A household is deemed to be living in suitable accommodations if its dwelling has enough bedrooms, as calculated using the NOS.
'Housing suitability' assesses the required number of bedrooms for a household based on the age, sex, and relationships among household members. An alternative variable, 'persons per room,' considers all rooms in a private dwelling and the number of household members.
Housing suitability and the National Occupancy Standard (NOS) on which it is based were developed by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) through consultations with provincial housing agencies.

Shelter-cost-to-income-ratio (4)
1. Total – Private non-band non-farm off-reserve households with an income greater than zero
2. Spending less than 30% of households total income on shelter costs
3. Spending 30% or more of households total income on shelter costs
4. Spending 50% or more of households total income on shelter costs
Note: 'Shelter-cost-to-income ratio' refers to the proportion of average total income of household which is spent on shelter costs.

Household Statistics (8)
1. Total – Private non-band non-farm off-reserve households with an income greater than zero1
2. Average household income in 2015 ($)2
3. Median household income in 2015 ($)3
4. Quartile 1 of household income in 2015 ($)4
5. Quartile 2 (median) of household income in 2015 ($)4
6. Quartile 3 of household income in 2015 ($)4
7. Average monthly shelter costs ($)2,5
8. Median monthly shelter costs ($)3,5
Notes: 1) All households statistics are calculated based on the distribution of private households in non-farm off-reserve non-band occupied private dwellings with a before-tax household income greater than zero.
2) The average is suppressed if the number of actual records used in the calculation (not rounded or weighted) is less than 4.
3) The median is suppressed if the number of actual records used in the calculation (not rounded or weighted) is less than 8.
4) Quartiles 1 to 3 are suppressed if the number of actual records used in the calculation (not rounded or weighted) is less than 16.
5) Shelter costs for owner households include, where applicable, mortgage payments, property taxes and condominium fees, along with the costs of electricity, heat, water and other municipal services. For renter households, shelter costs include, where applicable, the rent and the costs of electricity, heat, water and other municipal services.

Age of Primary Household Maintainer / Household Type (15)
1. Total – Private household by age of primary household maintainer
2. 15 – 29
3. 30 – 44
4. 45 – 64
5. 55 and over
6. 60 and over
7. 65 and over
8. Total – Private households by household type
9. One-family couple households without children and without additional non-family persons (2 persons only)
10. One-family couple households with census family children under 18 years of age and without additional non-family persons
11. Male-lone-parent family household with census family children under 18 years of age and without additional non-family persons
12. Female-lone-parent family household with census family children under 18 years of age and without additional non-family persons
13. Other household types
14. All other family household types1
15. Non-family households2
Notes: 1) Included are one-family households with census children aged 18 and over and no younger and without additional non-family persons; all one-family households with additional non-family persons; and multiple-family households.
2) Non-family household refers to either one person living alone in a private dwelling or to a group of two or more people who share a private dwelling, but who do not constitute a census family.

Original file name: CRO0163850_CT.4 (BC_HHType).ivt

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 house price-to-income ratio in Australia was ***** as of the fourth 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.

In 2024, there were more new home construction starts in Canada than in the previous year. Construction starts peaked in 2021, when there were ******* 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 2023, the number of housing units that were under construction in Canada was approximately ******** units. After a period of stagnation until 2016, the housing industry witnessed a significant surge in construction activity. 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 2024, the average cost of a house in Canada was around ******* Canadian dollars. The average house price had increased that year by ****** Canadian dollars compared in 2024 compared to the previous year. The house price-to-income ratio in Canada increased slightly in the third quarter of 2024.