Homeownership costs have increased slightly in Canada across all housing segments in the closing months of 2009, according to the latest housing report released today by RBC Economics.
RBC Housing Affordability measure captures the proportion of pre-tax household income that is needed to service the costs of owning a home.
In the 4th month of 2009, measures at the national level rose slightly across all housing types.
This means, the higher the measure, the more difficult it is to owning a home. In other words, the higher the measure, the more of your pre-tax household income is necessary to own that housing type.
The detached bungalow benchmark reach 0.3% higher, making it 40.06 %; the standard townhouse rose by 0.2% to 32.9%; the standard condominium rose by 0.1% to 28% and the standard two storey home increased by 0.3% to 46.7%.
Despite the recent increase in housing affordability, all affordability measures remain well below their levels from a year ago.
The RBC report notes that the cost of owning a home will continue to rise, as strong demand and limited supply of homes for sale sustain the upward trend we have seen with prices.
We have seen low mortgages and anticipated rate increases starting mid 2010 fueling the demand.
Rita Baxter
Broker of Record with Town and Country Realty
www.lloydminsterrealestate.ca/
