17.7 percent? That's such a crazy low number it must be wrong. Are these stats properly correcting for those who own their homes and don't have a mortgage? Or is this 17.7% of PRE tax income?

I was expecting to see something like 35% to 42% of after tax income goes to housing.

The 17.7 has to be referring to pre-tax income. We all know once you adjust for tax, the number goes up to the 40%+ range.

Did you know that in the lower mainland it is in the 60% range.

I heard on the news last night it is about 71% in vancouver

Of course just my opinion, but I think anyone who would pay 70 percent of their income on a mortgage is a moron. Vancouver is nice, but it sure is nice to have some play money too.

Lies, damn lies and statistics IMO.

This obviously would include those who have owned a home for many decades and thus have all the appreciated equity i their homes and not much for a mortgage payment.

Three years ago a friend of mine bought a 1400 square foot home on the Hart with a half acre for $77,000 and a $250 a month mortgage payment. He recently sold it for $180,000 and the new home owner if a first time buyer would likely have a mortgage payment nearer to $800 a month.

The average price of a new home is around $350,000 today and so a first time buyer is looking at a mortgage payment of at least $1500 a month over 40-years. If the average income is $45,000 a year, then that is 1/3 of gross income before taxes. Likely 50% of after tax income with record low interest rates.

The housing bubble across the world is the biggest bubble in history and when it bursts my opinion is that it will start a great depression as their are signs this is starting to happen already south of the boarder. In the last 6-months home foreclosures have climbed to new record highs every single month.

I think we have a market built on speculation of inflation that is not consistent with increases in real wages (especially for single income families) and so at some point we are bound to see a major correction or the next generation will likely be in 20% range who will own homes.

I can count a dozen mill workers off the top of my head that are first time buyers and can not afford a mortgage for an average priced house in PG so that should say something about the actual ability of people to pay the prices asked in todays market.

You got it right Eagleone.

C.Monty Burns has a very good point!
I saw the 71% figure on the news last night and I was shocked.
I knew it was high but that is beyond ridiculous!
That's the diference between owning house and having the house own you!
And keep in mind,metro Vancouver is on the edge of a very big real estate crash!
Even up in isolated Powell River it is crashing at an alarming rate acoording to what I have been told by people who live there.
And I agree with Eagleone,there does seem to be something very wrong with the figures we are getting if they are in fact true!

"Vancouver is nice, but it sure is nice to have some play money too"

I agree. Let's not also forget that there are loads of people out there who can afford the high prices. Dual income families are much more common these days than in the past and people are also having fewer children than what past generations did. You can afford to do allot more when you have twice the income and fewer dependants.

Of course, there are also folks who need the 40 year mortgages just to get into a house or at least to get into the house that they WANT. Personally, the thought of being on the hook for 40 years makes me want to vomit, but it's a choice that many people make. Play now and pay later. I don't think it's a particulary wise strategy, but people can do what they want. One just hopes they realize what they are getting into and the potential consequences of their actions should something go wrong.

Vancouver is nice?
Nice to be from.

Vancouver is nice?
Drug addicts and traffic jams.

Home ownership is went your have no mortgage- what is the % of mortgage free owners in PG- not how many have mortgage's-

The best view of Vancouver is in the rear view mirror of my car.

How about the last good thing to come out of Vancouver was an empty bus.

You know things are bad when they start doing 2-for-1 sales on new homes in California.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/2071165/Buy-one-home%2C-get-one-free-US-agents-try-to-beat-property-slump.html