WINDSOR, ONT. -- While the price of housing has been on the rise, Windsor and London are still considered the most affordable markets in Ontario.
According to a Point2 study, Halifax, N.S., Windsor and London make up the top three most affordable markets in 2020, with most homeowners’ mortgages in Windsor and London accounting for 11.4 per cent of their income.
“In all three cities, incomes have been increasing at a faster pace than home prices in the last decade,” the study says.
With the exception of Oshawa, Ont., Point2 says incomes in all of the 10 most affordable cities have increased fast home prices.
However, according to Point2’s latest study, increased income is “no match” for the surging home prices in the 50 most populous cities. The disparity between home prices and slower moving incomes means more cities are becoming unaffordable.
A market is considered unaffordable when homeowners are spending more than 30 per cent of their income to cover mortgage.
The study says 2020 caused disruptions due to the pandemic, but those challenges are “just the most recent events undermining” homeownership affordability in Canada.
“In the last 10 years, the share of income needed to afford housing has gone up exponentially, with monthly mortgage payments becoming a financial burden for increasing numbers of homeowners across the nation,” the study says.
Over the last 10 years, mortgage affordability has worsened in 38 of the country’s 50 largest real estate markets, and the number of unaffordable markets has jumped from six to 16.
