RBC Housing Affordability

The conclusion - Houses are not afforable

http://www.rbc.com/economics/market/pdf/house.pdf


British Columbia — Unaffordable and becoming riskier

Rapid price increases are quickly undoing last year’s improvement in affordability in British Columbia. In the first quarter, RBC affordability measures surged between 0.9 and 4.0 percentage points, by far the sharpest deterioration among the provinces. In the past three quarters, the measures reversed between one-third and one-half of their sharp drop in 2008 and early 2009. B.C. housing markets have been on a tear since last summer – with resale activity fully recovering to predownturn levels by the end of 2009 – although some signs of slowing have emerged since the beginning of this year. Nonetheless, the strong price momentum has continued largely unaffected in recent months, returning RBC affordability measures closer to their all-time highs in early 2008. Such poor affordability levels represent an element of risk for the province’s markets.

Risk - in real estate - say it ain't so.