CBC has done a great job summarizing just how out-of-reach home-ownership remains. There are fewer and fewer municipalities today where middle-income earners can afford to buy a home, one priced in the bottom fifth of housing prices. The article quotes a study that compared the ratio of starter home prices to incomes of young, dual-income household. In 2004, only three metro areas—Vancouver, Victoria, and Toronto—had houses prices that were more than four times median incomes. In 2025, 18 of the areas survived—including Hamilton—had houses prices more than four times incomes. And in eight areas, the ratio was greater than 6.8 times incomes, the highest ratio in 2004. You’d need an annual income of about $127,000 to buy the average Hamilton area starter home.
Read the article here.