Home prices fuel record affordability gains, but relief remains elusive
Conversely, Quebec City, Winnipeg, Montreal, and Edmonton saw conditions worsen, driven by home price increases. Quebec City’s 3.5% quarterly rise in prices was the sharpest among all markets covered.
Vancouver delivered the fastest year-over-year improvement nationally, with the MPPI falling 8.7 percentage points over the past four quarters to 79.4%, still the least affordable reading in Canada by a wide margin, and 13.2 percentage points above its long-term average since 2000.
A non-condo home in Vancouver requires a buyer to save for 398 months at a 10% savings rate to accumulate a minimum down payment, the report noted.
Toronto’s MPPI fell to 68.3% in Q2, the tenth consecutive quarterly improvement for the city and a 22.6-point decline from its Q4 2023 peak.
Meanwhile, Edmonton remains the most affordable major market nationally with an MPPI of 33.4%, well below the national composite, despite a modest 0.2-point deterioration in Q2. Calgary, at 38.5%, also sits well below the national urban average.
