Canadian Housing Market Analysis: Affordability, Supply and Who Buys

These pages step back from the monthly price reports to look at the bigger questions in Canadian housing: how far prices have pulled away from incomes, why the country has fallen short on supply, whether the market is overvalued, and how home ownership and housing wealth are spread across generations and investors. The monthly figures for each city and province are in the housing market reports.

Affordability

• Housing affordability in Canada: the measures of affordability, led by RBC’s ownership-cost index, nationally and by city
• Price-to-income ratio: how home prices compare with household incomes, nationally and by city
• Buyer’s, seller’s or balanced market: reading the sales-to-new-listings ratio and months of inventory

Supply

• Canada’s housing shortage: how many homes Canada needs and why construction falls short
• Housing starts in Canada: CMHC’s monthly count of new construction by province and city
• Toronto housing starts: construction in the Toronto area, including the condo slowdown
• The housing crisis explained: its causes and the policy response

Prices and risk

• Is Canada in a housing bubble?: the overvaluation measures and the risk of a correction
• How much will home prices increase?: what drives prices and what forecasters expect

Debt, wealth and who buys

• Canadian mortgage debt statistics: how much Canadians owe on mortgages and the renewal wave
• Housing’s share of household wealth: how much of Canadians’ net worth is their home
• The generational homeownership gap: ownership rates by age and generation, then and now
• Investor share of home purchases: how much housing investors buy and own

Related sections

• Housing in Canada: the section overview
• First-time home buyers: programs, down payments and the buying process
• Income needed to afford a home: the income a lender looks for at a given price