Photo: James Bombales

Canadian housing affordability is deteriorating again, after a slight improvement in the final quarter of 2017.

RBC’s aggregate housing affordability measure rose by 0.4 per cent to 48.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2018, after falling 0.3 per cent in Q4 2017, its first decline in 10 quarters.

The reason for the deterioration? Higher interest rates, according to RBC senior economist Robert Hogue, who notes that a third-straight quarter rise in mortgage rates boosted home ownership costs last quarter, outpacing household income gains.

“We believe that the Bank of Canada is not done raising interest rates,” Hogue tells Livabl. “In the next year or so we expect to see the overnight rate raised by up to 100 basis points.”

The overnight rate, which affects mortgage rates, currently sits at 1.25 per cent, after a 25 basis point hike in January.

That hike has worsened affordability in Canada’s two hottest housing markets — Toronto and Vancouver. As of last quarter, the average Vancouver homeowner would have to put 87.8 per cent of their household income into home ownership costs, while the average Toronto homeowner would have to put 74.2 per cent.

“Some of Canada’s priciest markets are very sensitive to interest rate hikes, which affect ownership costs as mortgage rates also rise,” explains Hogue.

Outside of Toronto and Vancouver, affordability continues to deteriorate, but at a slower pace.

“When you look beyond those markets, across Canada most other markets are pretty much in line with historical averages when it comes to affordability,” says Hogue. “It’s still not great, but it is within the historical norms.”

As to what to expect for next quarter, Hogue doesn’t think home buyers should be getting their hopes up.

“The prospect of more interest rate hikes in the period ahead poses material risk of further affordability erosion in Canada,” he writes, in the affordability report. “The odds of this ultimately occurring will also depend on the degree to which household income increases.”

Categories: 地产动态

发表评论

邮箱地址不会被公开。 必填项已用*标注

Related Posts

地产动态

列治文坚决反对农地种大麻!并要紧缩农地建屋规模

列治文市议会于温哥华时间11月13日(周二)晚间通过了一项动议,向省府 Read more…

地产动态

炒楼花要交100%重税!税局新招太狠 赚30万要多缴8万!

税局还会很“残忍”地重查一下已经申报的收入税 炒楼花的人可能要注意了, Read more…

地产动态

大温公寓VS城市屋面面观:都是非独立单位,我该选谁?

房屋的类型很多,比如华人常说的别墅、公寓、联排别墅等等 —— 按照中文 Read more…