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Calgary has been among Canada’s hottest resale real estate markets in recent months, but a new survey curiously shows it ranks among the world’s top cities that have become more affordable in recent years.
The survey by Online Mortgage Advisor looked at affordability by average home price and average annual salary, after tax, among 219 cities throughout the world in 2022 compared with 2018.
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To measure affordability, the United Kingdom-based brokerage looked at how many square metres the average annual salary could purchase based on the average price of a home in 2018 and 2022.
The difference between the two years indicated whether affordability went up or down, the report stated.
Based on this metric, Calgary ranked sixth among major cities globally where affordability increased from 8.9 square metres in 2018 to 11.8 in 2022, a rise of 2.9 square metres, or about 9.5 square feet.
Edmonton fared even better where the average annual salary could purchase 11.7 square metres in 2018 and, in 2022, the average salary could buy 19.7 square metres — an increase of 8.1 metres (about 27 square feet).
That placed Edmonton second among all cities globally.
Johannesburg in South Africa ranked at the top of the survey for biggest increase in affordability since 2018 when the average salary could purchase 14.6 square metres of home. In 2022, the average income could buy 23.2 square metres, or 8.6 square metres (about 76 square feet) more than in 2018.
Denver ranked third in the survey where the average income purchased 10.4 square metres in 2018, rising to 15.6 square metres in 2022 — a jump of 5.2 square metres (about 17 square feet).
Toronto and Vancouver also saw small increases in the amount of home the average salary could purchase, increasing by 0.6 and 0.8 square metres respectively.
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