Ottawa’s financial watchdog is reporting considerable progress in narrowing the national housing affordability gap, but the situation appears markedly different throughout the country.
Canada’s housing gap shrank from 80 percent in September 2023 to 34 percent in August thanks to reduced borrowing costs, increased wages, and declining home prices, an updated housing report from Parliamentary Budget Officer Jason Jacques found.
The report released this week assesses affordability by measuring the difference between average home prices and the amount that a typical household can afford.
Home prices reached their highest point in 2022 amid the recovery from the pandemic, but later declined in several markets following the Bank of Canada’s decision to increase its benchmark interest rate to more than 5 percent….