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.

In November 2024, a single-family house in Oak Bay cost 1.9 million Canadian dollars. Oak Bay was the most expensive suburb in Victoria, British Columbia, followed by Highlands and North Saanich. Victoria: an overview Victoria is the capital city of the province of British Columbia. The city is located south of Vancouver, and across the U.S. border from Seattle. In 2020, the average home price in Victoria was 961,000 Canadian dollars, which placed the city as the sixth most expensive Canadian city for residential real estate. Home affordability in Canada Housing affordability is, undoubtedly, one of the biggest barriers to homeownership in Canada. In 2023, the ratio of homeownership costs to income was 62.5 percent. Nevertheless, more expensive locations in the country had a higher ratio, with Vancouver exceeding 100 percent, suggesting that on average, mortgage payments exceeded the monthly income. Amid lower affordability and worsening homebuyer sentiment, house prices in some of Canada's markets are forecast to decline slightly in 2024.