Gap between cost of a house in Hamilton-Burlington and median income is 4th-largest in Canada

New empirical evidence indicates, further, that it is an uphill battle to afford to buy a house in Hamilton and Burlington.

The real estate firm Zoocasa published a report that juxtaposes the average home prices across 20 Canadian metro areas vis-à-vis the median income in each centre, and the required income to afford the average home.

In eight of those areas, the required income to buy a home is higher than the median income. The Expensive Eight are Vancouver, Victoria, and six places in Southern Ontario. By the numbers, the gap in Hamilton and Burlington is just under $24,700, which is the fourth-largest. The largest gaps are in Vancouver (about $75,000), Toronto (about $72,000) and Victoria (just under $26,000).

Buying a home at the average price of $831,300 entails an income of $128,512. The median income in the two adjoining cities, who are considered to be part of the same census metropolitan area, is $103,820, which was in the top third of the 20 areas that Zoocasa surveyed. Hamilton-Burlington, Kitchener-Waterloo, and Victoria are the only three places where the median income is more than $100,000, but is less than the required income to buy.

Cities on the East Coast and Prairies tend to be more affordable, Zoocasa says.

The average home price in the Hamilton-Burlington area peaked at $1.07 million in February 2022. Prices began to come down after a skein of interest rate hikes by the Bank of Canada.

(Graphic: Zoocasa; cover image: RE/MAX Escarpment Realty.)