Pushed by a stronger housing resale activity, the cost of owning a home in Saskatchewan became slightly more expensive in the third quarter, according to the latest housing report released on November 25th, 2009 by RBC Economics Research.
Robert Hogue, senior economist at RBC noted that with steady and substantial improvements over the past year, housing affordability has deteriorated slightly in the third quarter due to stronger property values and a modest rise in mortgage rates.
Housing prices have also heated up by strong resale activity in the province, which is close to the record levels which were set during the winter of 2007 and spring of 2008.
The RBC Affordability measure for Saskatchewan captures the proportion of pre-tax household income needed to service the costs of owning a home rose across all four housing classes in the third quarter of 2009.
Affordability of the benchmark detached bungalow moved up to 41.2%; the standard townhouse moved up to 33.7%; the standard condo moved up to 26.8%; and the standard two storey home moved up to 44.0%.
As mentioned, the higher the reading, the more costly it is to afford a home. For example, to own a standard townhouse, it will take up to 33.7% of a typical household’s monthly pre-tax income to cover homeownership costs.
Jeff Markewich
Broker of Record with InfoMarket Group GMAC Real Estate
www.imgrealestate.ca
