A new report confirms Metro Vancouver as one of the most unaffordable cities in the world for the middle class and warns of unaffordability spreading into smaller B.C. cities.
The report ranks cities by dividing the median house price through the median household income. It considers cities affordable if the median house price is three times or less higher than the median household income. So Metro Vancouver's ratio of 12.3 means that its median house price is more than 12 times higher than its median household income.
This"planning orthodoxy" of the past 50 years has prevented cities from sprawling through urban containment areas and greenbelts while increasing density, the report says."As land has been rationed in an effort to curb urban sprawl, the excess of demand over supply has driven prices up," it reads. The report notes that New Zealand has abandoned"densification-only" programs in favour of policies designed to open up more land for housing -- a move that has subsequently drawn criticism from environmentalists.
B.C.'s Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said in a statement to Black Press Media that the report underscores the challenges that people are facing, adding its findings "validate the importance of the new actions our government is taking to deliver more homes for people, faster."
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