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The High Cost of Being World-Class

BY VANESSA CHENG

2024 Spring

When it comes to liveability Vancouver holds its own among global cities, making–sometimes topping–The Economist’s annual top 10 list. Lately, however, Vancouver has been topping or near-topping another less desirable list: housing affordability. According to the 2023 Demographia International Housing Affordability Report published by the Urban Reform Institute, Vancouver is the third-most expensive housing market in the world, as measured by median multiples (median house price divided by the gross median household income). Median multiples of 3.0 or lower are considered “affordable”; 5.1 or more is considered “severely unaffordable”. In the survey of 94 cities, the 10 least affordable included:

City	Rank	Median Multiple
Hong Kong	94	18.8
Sydney	93	13.3
Vancouver	92	12.0
Honolulu	91	11.8
San Jose	90	11.5
Los Angeles	89	11.3
Auckland	88	10.8
San Francisco	87	10.7
Melbourne	86	9.9
Toronto	85	9.5

Other Canadian cities on the list: Edmonton (4.0), Calgary (4.3), Ottawa region (5.2) and Montreal (5.4). The most affordable cities? Pittsburgh (3.1), Rochester, NY (3.2), and Cleveland and St. Louis MO-IL (3.5 each).

Source: Urban Reform Institute

	Median multiple
White Rock
Detached Home	17.6
Townhouse	10.2
Apartment	6.3
Langley City
Detached Home	11.9
Townhouse	7.2
Apartment	4.1
Surrey
Detached Home	11.6
Townhouse	6.2
Apartment	4.1
Abbotsford
Detached Home	9.3
Townhouse	5.5
Apartment	3.4
North Delta*
Detached Home	9.2
Townhouse	6.3
Apartment	4.1
Mission
Detached Home	7.6
Townhouse	5.2
Apartment	3.3