New research by the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) indicates that the percentage of average household income required to cover home payments has increased in the last two quarters as a result of both higher prices and interest rates.
“Higher prices and an increase in mortgage rates have made home affordability more of a problem for the average Canadian family,” reports Julian Beltrame.
“RBC’s latest research on the portion of average household income needed to maintain a home shows that affordability deteriorated over the summer, the second consecutive drop in as many quarters.”
“In Toronto, the affordability measure rose 1.3 percentage point to 55.6 per cent, the second worst in the country.”
“The report says the biggest risk to maintaining manageable affordability levels would be a sharp rise in interest rates, but many analysts believe that is unlikely to occur as long as global economic growth remains moderate and inflation pressures soft.”
FULL STORY: Home Affordability Deteriorating As Prices, Rates Rise: RBC
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