Here's How Much You Need To Make To Afford A Starter Home Across Quebec

Quebec is an expensive place to buy a house, especially if you live in the cities. A new real estate survey from HelloSafe estimated the amount Quebecers would have to earn in order to afford a humble starter home in areas across the province, and for Montrealers, it's not looking good.

The average size of a starter house ranges broadly depending on your price point and location, but 100 square metres (or just over 1,000 square feet) is a realistic average. HelloSafe found that the average price per square metre across Quebec was $3,092. In Montreal, the average price per square metre is more than double that average, at $7,262.

Montreal is unsurprisingly the most expensive place to buy a home, with the price per square metre sitting at 4.4 times as high as the cheapest region, the Côte-Nord. To buy a 1,000-square-foot starter home in Montreal, HelloSafe estimates that you'd need a salary as high as $251,100 annually — more than 2.5 times the local average before-tax income of $53,300 in 2021, according to Statistics Canada.

Only five other regions in Quebec require six-figure salaries to afford a starter home, per the site's findings: Laval, the Laurentides, Montérégie, Outaouais and Lanaudière. But even the second-highest estimated income necessary to afford a 1,000-square-foot home, Laval's $140,987, is $110,113 less than that in Montreal.

For reference, the difference between the necessary salaries in Laval and Montreal is just under the required income for Laurentides, which comes in at $118,532. Montreal is not only the most expensive area in Quebec to buy a home, it's more than twice as expensive as the fifth-priciest area, Outaouais.

In more northern regions of Quebec, the income required to own a starter home dips below $60,000, HelloSafe found — still more than Montreal's average salary but significantly less than the city's price per starter home.

In other words, it's a good idea to move far away from Montreal if you want to own a house anytime soon — unless you're making the big bucks. For now, brush up on your renter's rights and dream of the day when you'll be able to afford 100 square metres of your very own housing.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.