Every dinner party features a conversation about house pricing. 20-somethings are now apparently the “renting generation”, and it seems real estate pricing is spinning out of control. What else is new? Point2 Homes, however, has just released the results of a recent investigation that sheds rather an interesting light on the Ottawa market.
The purpose of the study was to determine the affordability ratio of each of North America’s 50 most populous cities. The results show that Ottawa is comparatively one of Canada’s most attractive cities to buy real estate in due to its affordability as well as its high median wage.
In their investigation, researchers looked at the ratio of home price to income. This ratio is what they call the Median Multiple, and it provides a scale on which to judge the relative affordability of Canada’s cities.
Ottawa Scored a 3.5 on the Median Multiple scale, making it a moderately unaffordable city. But compare this to Vancouver’s 17.3 and Toronto’s 7.5, and it is clear that Ottawa is beginning to stand out as a Canadian’s most attractive option.
"It would take 14 fewer years to pay off a house in Ottawa than it would in Vancouver,” says a representative at Point2 Homes.
Ottawa also came 4th in all of North America in terms of median family income, behind only San Francisco, San Jose, and Calgary.
