Owning a home in Canada became more affordable in recent months, according to the Royal Bank of Canada.
RBC Economics Research released a report Monday saying the proportion of pre-tax household income it takes to own a home declined in the third quarter of 2010 after a full year of deteriorating home-ownership affordability. Lower home prices and mortgage rates were the reasons for the recent improvement.
RBC said it took 40.4% of household income, on average across the country, to own a bungalow between July and September. That was 2.4 percentage points lower than the second quarter.
The cost for owning a standard two-storey home fell 2.5 points to 46.3% on income, and the affordability rate for condominiums was down 1.4 points to 27.8%.
Looking at the percentage of household income needed to own bungalows in major markets across the country, it was 68.8% in Vancouver, 47.2% in Toronto, 41.7% in Montreal, 38.2% in Ottawa, 37.1% in Calgary and 32.7% in Edmonton.
