Ontario cities with the least and most pricey homes

Pockets of affordability remain, although the overall provincial trend consists of elevated price and short supply

By Ephraim Vecina

21 May 2018

Despite the Ontario government’s implementation of the Fair Housing Plan around a year ago, affordability remains a core concern among current and would-be home owners. A new study by Toronto-based real estate information website and brokerage Zoocasa looked at fresh data to determine the most and least affordable cities in the province.

Zoocasa analyzed median household incomes from Statistics Canada as well as average April 2018 home prices provided by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), and determined that Thunder Bay is currently the most affordable Ontario city for home seekers, with a Single-Income Ratio of 6 and a Dual-Income Ratio of 2, along with an average home price of $217,745.

Other pockets of affordability in the province are:

Rank 2: Sudbury
Single-Income Ratio: 9
Dual-Income Ratio: 3
Average Home Price: $268,696

Rank 3: Windsor
Single-Income Ratio: 9
Dual-Income Ratio: 4
Average Home Price: $303,183

Rank 4: Ottawa-Gatineau
Single-Income Ratio: 9
Dual-Income Ratio: 4
Average Home Price: $418,232

Rank 5: Kingston
Single-Income Ratio: 10
Dual-Income Ratio: 4
Average Home Price: $366,582

As for the cities that ranked lowest in terms of affordability:

Rank 1 (Least Affordable): Greater Toronto
Single-Income Ratio: 20
Dual-Income Ratio: 9
Average Home Price: $804,584

Rank 2: Hamilton
Single-Income Ratio: 16
Dual-Income Ratio: 6
Average Home Price: $569,490

Rank 3: Oakville
Single-Income Ratio: 15
Dual-Income Ratio: 5
Average Home Price: $719,000

Rank 4: Durham
Single-Income Ratio: 14
Dual-Income Ratio: 6
Average Home Price: $604,51

Rank 5: Peterborough
Single-Income Ratio: 14
Dual-Income Ratio: 6
Average Home Price: $448,875

The surprise presence of Peterborough, which is situated quite a ways from Toronto, “suggests that there could be growing demand from buyers priced out of the GTA that are willing to commute from much further afield - and incomes in these cities have not caught up to the average home price,” Zoocasa stated.