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As Canada faces a nationwide affordability and housing crisis, things have gotten marginally better across the country. Housing affordability has been moving (slowly) in a direction in aid of Canadians. Unfortunately, there is one major Canadian city that isn't following the trend: Quebec City. According to a recent survey from Royal Lepage, Quebec City is the only municipality out of the 62 analyzed where the average household income required to service an average mortgage in Quebec's capital has climbed. The average household income required to service an average mortgage in Quebec City has climbed 1.6 per cent since 2024, and it stands alone.
Over the past two years, home prices in Canada's major urban centres — particularly Toronto, Vancouver and their surrounding communities — have softened, as demand in these higher-cost regions has been tempered by geopolitical and economic uncertainty, reduced immigration levels and an unprecedented increase in supply
-Phil Soper, chief executive of Royal LePage
Across Canada, the household income required to obtain a mortgage has declined to offer more Canadians the opportunity to purchase a home. Housing prices across the country have sunk as well. Experts report that the sinking housing prices are simply the market re-adjusting to the COVID boom, but they have also changed the industry. As major cities like Montreal, Vancouver, and Toronto see a dip in demand for non-rental housing, more people are moving to rural areas.
List of 15 most affordable cities
Royal Lepage's report calculated a number of factors in order to score the cities by affordability. Royal Lepage's affordability index included cost of living, local economy, and mortgage trends in the city. The report calculates whether household income has increased, and whether the income required to get a mortgage. At the top of the list was Lethbridge Alberta, a city with a population of 106,000. In Lethbridge, residents use just 18 per cent of their income to their mortgage. At the bottom of the 15-city list was Charlottetown, with an affordability factor of 30 per cent.
Home prices in Canada's largest cities have moderated over the past couple of years, but for many buyers, the math still doesn't work,
-Phil Soper
Saint John, N.B., came in second at 19.6 per cent. The top five were rounded out by Thunder Bay, Ont., at 20.3 per cent, Red Deer, Alta., at 24.9 per cent and Regina at 25 per cent. Edmonton at 26.3 per cent and Winnipeg at 27.9 per cent also cracked the top 10. Edmonton was the only Canadian city with a population of 1 million to crack the list.
Quebec City was certainly the failure of the list. It has been one of the 15 most affordable city for years, but this year it dipped to 18. Of the 62 cities analyzed Quebec City was the only one to have become less affordable, dipping one of the better trends in Canada. While affordability has been a crisis for years, things have been getting marginally better across the country. Unfortunately, its not the case for the capital of Quebec.
A dangerous housing market
While houses are getting marginally more affordable, and the minimum household income to purchase a house is decreasing, experts say it isn't enough. In fact, the dip in prices have actually harmed the market. While prices dipped nearly 30 per cent this year, most Canadians still cannot afford to buy a home. With Canadians who want houses unable to afford them, the market's main target is investors. Unfortunately, few investors want to enter a market that has just seen a massive dip. While prices are too high for most Canadians, the instability is driving away richer, investment-focused buyers. What's left is a market for nobody, where houses sit for months unsold, and more Canadians continue renting.
