(Photo courtesy of Michael Muraz via Flickr)
Toronto is expensive. That's been established. But now Toronto is officially the fourth most expensive housing market in North America.
A recent study puts Toronto ahead of only three other North American cities when it comes to housing affordability: Los Angeles, San Jose, and Vancouver.
The study, led by professor Andy Yan, director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University, looked at two data sources. Each source evaluated median household incomes and median housing values from the 2016 Census from both Statistics Canada and the U.S. Census Bureau.
Yan's report also adjusted incomes and housing values using the purchasing power parity of Canada and the United States. This allowed for a much more accurate comparison, regardless of the exchange rate.
His study examined metropolitan areas in North America, where total populations exceeded 500,000 residents.
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When comparing highest median housing prices in North America, Toronto placed eighth highest on the list. Vancouver is the only Canadian city more expensive than Toronto.
And Toronto's median housing value stands at $647,648. While Calgary ranks behind Toronto, with a median housing value of $450,405.
When it comes to median household income, Toronto landed 32nd out of 51 metropolitan areas. Incomes in Toronto are higher than Kitchener, Cambridge, Hamilton, and Vancouver.
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But incomes in Calgary and Edmonton, are higher than those in Toronto.
The study concluded with a “housing affordability index.” This index gave Toronto an affordability ratio of 8.3. So the median housing in Toronto is 8.3 times more than the average median income.
When it came to livability, Toronto is in line with Los Angeles, San Jose, San Francisco, and Honolulu.
