Housing Affordability In Vancouver Suburbia Worsens

In the previous years, affordability has gone down by nearly 40 per cent in some of the areas, with Richmond and White Rock examining two out of the 30 suburbs which is improving. A lender, Vancity cautioned that the housing affordability issue in the Lower Mainland and Greater Victoria suburbs is not getting any better.

The North Vancouver District was deeply affected with affordability dropping by 38 per cent, Delta following behind by 31 per cent, Langley Township 29 per cent, Mission 24 per cent, Abbotsford and Maple Ridge 23 per cent and Sidney (17 per cent) being the lowest.

In total, West Vancouver happens to be the highest-priced market with a gross debt ratio of 191.8 per cent. With GDR being at 18.4 per cent, Langley city turned out to be the most affordable place. The ranking paid attention to the median earnings and average home prices ranked by GDR, which is the percentage of income required for the cost of mortgage, up keeping and property taxes.

Senior mortgage development manager of Vancity, Ryan McKinley said; “Buyers looking for affordable housing options used to be able to look to municipalities around Vancouver to find affordable options. While pockets of affordability still exist, they are disappearing as prices in the Fraser Valley and other parts of B.C. continue to rise.”