Toronto is now less affordable than both Tokyo and Melbourne
If you've ever dreamed of leaving Toronto and moving abroad, a new real estate report on housing affordability in North America and beyond may help you decide the next place you'd like to call home.
Although the average price of a detached home in Toronto is now well past the $1 million mark, many countries around the world are similarly grappling with high inflation and skyrocketing home prices.
To gain insights into how housing affordability in North American cities compares with other cities around the world, real estate agency Zoocasa analyzed home prices across 23 metropolitan areas in various countries.
The report found that average home prices in Toronto now exceed those of major global cities such as Tokyo, Melbourne, New York, Miami, and Seoul.
Currencies were converted using the most recent exchange rates according to Forbes Advisor on the week of April 22, and home prices were gathered from a variety of sources — including the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, National Association of Realtors, and Domain's December 2023 House Price Report — using the most recently available data.
There were only a handful of other areas analyzed that surpassed Toronto's average home price of $1,121,615, namely Vancouver, Los Angeles, Barcelona, London, Sydney, and Singapore, which boasts a staggering average home price of $1,968,706 CAD.
"A home in Singapore, widely recognized as one of the world's most expensive cities, will cost you nearly $2 million CAD or about $1.5 million USD," the report reads.
"That number may sound shockingly high, but for Torontonians, the reality is that several neighbourhoods in Toronto already have average home prices above $2 million and in some cases, even $3 million."
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital, takes the crown for having the cheapest average home price out of all the cities analyzed at $144,082 CAD.
"It's important to note that housing affordability is largely linked with income," the study notes.
"Though Malaysia's home prices are affordable for those earning a North American salary, those living and working in Malaysia may have a harder time. For example, in Malaysia, the median household income per capita was $5,731 USD in 2022 according to CEIC data."
Other Canadian cities featured in the study, including Calgary and Halifax, have average home prices well below the $1 million mark at $597,600 CAD and $422,970 CAD, respectively.
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