People all over the world are finding it difficult to find affordable housing right now and in North America, one city reigns supreme-- Vancouver.

According to a recent study, by Point2Homes, that analyzed roughly 50 of the most populous cities around North America, Vancouver was found to have the most noticeable affordability gap. This means that New York and San Francisco fall behind Vancouver when it comes to the cost of housing.

17x the average annual income...

The study used the median multiple measurement in order to come to a conclusion and that consisted of comparing the median house prices to the average household incomes; this established an affordability ratio for them. Right now for Vancouver, that area was found to have a median multiple of more than 15.6 (that seen for Manhattan) and that means it requires 15x the average annual household income in order to afford an average home in the area. Vancouver was found to have a ratio of 17.3, with the average family income being around $63k.

According to the study results, homes in San Franciso and the New York area etc, still appear to be more expensive on the list price. However, Vancouver has a lower median income for those living in the city and that increases the affordability index. The average home sale prices are currently way above the average annual income of a family in the area.

It's suggest that for those who are living in Vancouver and who are earning less than $60,000 a year, that they are going to find it increasingly difficult if not near impossible for them to ever see home ownership. Though the tiny home movement might offer them a solution, as it has for a growing number in the US, Canada, and elsewhere.

Steadily rising prices of homes in many different countries has prompted many to even reconsider home-ownership altogether. Or to opt for alternatives like co-signing with unexpected parties in order to make their dream of owning a home into a reality.

The average home price in the city right now is around $1,108,345.

That means that the down-payment for an average home of that cost is around $220k or more. There aren't many families who have that kind of money sitting in the bank to put towards a down-payment. According to the study, if someone living in Vancouver who was earning roughly $63,944 per year, decided to dedicated every penny that they made toward paying off their mortgage payment, it would take them more than 17 years to pay it off.

For the US, the most expensive cities from the same study (following Vancouver) were seen to be cities like Manhattan, San Francisco, Brooklyn, New York, Los Angeles, and Boston.

Sources:
https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/j5jp3y/vancouver-ranked-most-unaffordable-housing-market-in-north-america
http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/report-calls-vancouver-most-unaffordable-real-estate-market-in-north-america
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/07/more-housing-markets-are-overvalued-and-consumers-feel-the-pain.html
http://dailyhive.com/vancouver/housing-vancouver-expensive-manhattan
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/crea-house-prices-1.4353165

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