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Bank says home affordability worsens in Vancouver

Xinhua, June 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

Home affordability in Vancouver hit the worst level in the first quarter, said the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) on Wednesday.

The bank's aggregate measure for a home in Vancouver climbed 6.5 points to 87.6 percent, while the same measure for a single-detached home in the city climbed 9.9 points to 119.5 percent, according to the bank.

The measure is the proportion of median pre-tax household income required to pay the mortgage, property taxes and utilities based on the average market price.

"Owning a single-detached home at market price in the Vancouver area has become out of reach for all but just a minority of higher-income households," said the bank, adding that the increase in Vancouver and a smaller gain in Toronto also helped drive the national average cost of home ownership higher.

According to the bank, the whole country's aggregate affordability measure rose by 0.8 percentage points to 47.1 percent in the first quarter, the highest level since the second quarter of 2010.

"There was broad-based deterioration across the country in the first quarter of 2016. However, the extent of it was minimal for the most part and the generally constructive picture remained little changed," the bank report said. Endi