Photo by Daniel R Blume

RBC Economics Research unit report Housing Trends And Affordability says homeownership costs in Canada are on the rise with Vancouver BC sticking out. The decline in the second quarter of 2010 was cased mainly by the market rebound and consequent price increase and mortgage rate increase.

Vancouver market has been marked as having the highest prices. RBC Housing Affordability Measures climbed 1.7 to 2.9 percentage points to levels that are rapidly closing in on all-time highs. However, well-contained market supply prevents stronger price correction for now. British Columbia and Ontario are close to all time records in house affordability, Alberta and Saskatchewan saw some improvement in affordability, the report says.

The RBC's Affordability Measures represent the proportion of median pre-tax household income required to service the cost of mortgage payments (principal and interest), property taxes and utilities on an average home.