The Most Affordable Cities In Canada To Buy Your First Home, According To A Realtor Group
Montreal made the list!
A row of townhouses in Quebec City, Quebec. Right: Three colourful homes in St. John's, Newfoundland.
What Canada's second-tier cities lack in glamour they make for in affordability. Of Canada's three largest cities, only Montreal makes it onto a new ranking of the top 10 most affordable cities in Canada for first-time homebuyers.
The ranking, by Alberta-based real estate platform Edmonton Homes, is based on an evaluation of average home prices, property taxes and energy costs compared to median incomes. The platform quantified these metrics and gave each city a score out of 60.
(Edmonton Homes doesn't disclose its full methodology, including how it calculated energy costs and property taxes, or how any of this pertains to first-time homebuyers, specifically. MTL Blog has reached out for more information, but take this ranking lightly.)
At the top of the list is St. John's with a score of 58.8. Edmonton Homes says the median income in the Newfoundland & Labrador capital represents about 37.31% of the average home price.
Saskatchewan claimed both second and third place with Regina and Saskatoon, respectively. In Regina, Edmonton Homes puts the median income at 37.4% of the average home price. In Saskatoon, that figure is 36.75%.
Quebec City (29.31%), Edmonton (29.04%), Winnipeg (28%) and Calgary (21.39%) followed.
In eighth place is Montreal, with a median income ($96,130) to average home price ($529,020) ratio of 18.17%.
Ottawa (19.88%) and London (16.07%) round out the top 10.
"Real estate in Canada has been a hot topic in recent years due to its rapid growth and high demand," a spokesperson for the real estate platform said in a press release. "The country's real estate market is considered [...] one of the most stable in the world, with a diverse range of options for investors and homebuyers alike."
"The study reveals where is most favourable for first-time buyers to start their search and it highlights the difference in how much people need to embark on the adventure of home ownership depending" on their city.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
