The income required to buy a new home in Ottawa increased nearly $1,000 this spring, as home prices jumped in the capital. A new report from Ratehub.ca shows homebuyers in the capital needed an income of $134,300 in April to buy the average priced home in Ottawa, up from $133,350 in March and $133,600 in February. According to the report, the average priced home in Ottawa was $631,200 in April, up $5,000 from March. The report looks at the income required to buy a home with a 10 per cent down payment, a 25-year amortization, $4,000 in annual property taxes and the monthly heating bill. Ratehub.ca looked at the average income required using a mortgage rate of 4.38 per cent and a stress test rate of 6.38 per cent. Ottawa is one of seven major Canadian cities where the average income required to purchase a home increased in April. The income required to buy a home increased $1,730 in Regina to $78,330 and up $1,190 in Montreal to $123,640. In Toronto, the income required to buy an average-priced home dropped $1,400 to $205,850 April, while the income required in Vancouver dropped $1,190 to $238,970. “Month-over-month we saw a fairly even split between affordability worsening and improving amongst the 13 cities studied. Seven cities saw affordability improve and six cities saw affordability worsen,” Penelope Graham, mortgage expert at Ratehub.ca, said in a statement. “Since mortgage rates remained unchanged this month, home prices were what impacted home affordability in each of the cities.” Hamilton saw the largest decrease in income required to buy a home, with the income dropping $1,800 to $166,500 in April. The drop comes after the average price in homes in Hamilton dropped $9,600 in April from March.
