Toronto is the most affordable of the world's most severely unaffordable cities.
According to the seventh annual
Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey, which takes into account not just housing prices but annual incomes and was released on Jan. 23, the median home in Toronto costs 5.1 times the median income.
In addition to Canada, the survey reports results for Australia, China, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK and the US.
Demographia is an organization run by
Wendell Cox, a conservative commentator and transit expert in the US who has enjoyed appointments from LA mayor Tom Bradley and former speaker of the US House of Representatives Newt Gingrich.
Though some have
criticized the basic calculations Demographia runs, which do not take such things as insurance, tax and utility costs into account, the rankings provide a decent snapshot of the ratio that matters most to those who own homes and those who would like to.
Demographia calculates that home prices three times the median income are affordable, 3.1-4.0 are moderately unaffordable, 4.1-5.0 are seriously unaffordable and anything greater than 5.1 is severely unaffordable.
Canada's national median rating is 4.6. The highest is China's, at 11.4, and the lowest is the US at 3.3.
The most affordable major metropolitan area on the list this year was Atlanta. The least was Hong Kong, followed by Sydney, Vancouver and Melbourne.
Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Demographia
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