Vancouver ranked among least affordable cities globally
A new analysis places the city as the 92nd least affordable market in the world, with housing costs climbing faster in smaller B.C. communities.
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Vancouver remains one of the least affordable housing markets on the planet, ranking 92nd out of 96 global cities studied—and the crisis is spreading to smaller communities across B.C. that were once more accessible.
The analysis, from the Chapman Center for Demographics and Policy and the New California Coalition, examined housing affordability across major markets in eight nations using median price-to-income ratios. Vancouver's median multiple of 10.8 means only four cities worldwide are less affordable: Hong Kong, Sydney, San Jose, and Adelaide.
The picture has barely changed over two decades. Vancouver has ranked among the five least affordable major markets consistently for the past 18 years. Toronto, by comparison, ranks 81st globally—still unaffordable, but significantly better than Vancouver.
What's shifting is the geography of the crisis. Smaller B.C. markets like the Fraser Valley, Chilliwack, Kelowna, and Vancouver Island communities are now following Vancouver's trajectory. From 2015 to 2023, housing affordability in these smaller markets worsened by the equivalent of 2.5 years of median household income—a steeper decline than Vancouver's 1.2-year loss during the same period.
Edmonton remains Canada's most affordable major market and ranks among the world's top three for affordability. The gap between the least (Vancouver) and most (Edmonton) affordable Canadian markets is stark: Vancouver is three times as costly relative to median household income.