In July, the minimum income needed to buy an average-priced home dropped in 13 major cities, and in over a third of them, you don’t need to make six figures, according to data from Ratehub.ca. While you still need to make bank to buy in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montréal, markets like Edmonton, Winnipeg, Regina, Fredericton, and St. John’s are among the most accessible. This is because home prices in these areas generally either dropped or only slightly increased from June to July. Yet, even though average home prices decreased in Toronto and Vancouver, the income required to buy a home remains out of reach for many, still surpassing $200,000 in both markets. In Toronto, the average household income is just $129,000 before taxes. While home prices are falling in most markets, this trend may not last forever. Shaun Cathcart, a senior economist with the Canadian Real Estate Association, says that with falling prices and more manageable down payments, “The forecast for a rekindling of Canadian housing activity going into 2025 has just gone from a layup to a slam dunk.”
