The income required to purchase a new home in Ottawa dropped $760 in November, as home prices and interest rates dropped. A new report by Ratehub.ca shows the income required to purchase the average priced home in Ottawa was $132,800 last month, down from $133,640 in October. Homebuyers needed an average income of $135,250 to buy a home in Ottawa in August. Ratehub.ca 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 a monthly heating bill of $150. The mortgage rate was 4.44 per cent and the stress test rate was 6.44 per cent. According to Ratehub, the average home price in Ottawa in November was $620,400, down from $622,700 in October. Ottawa was one of 12 cities to see a drop in the income required to purchase a new home in November. “For another month, home affordability has improved in the majority of the cities we studied,” Penelope Graham, mortgage expert at Ratehub.ca, said in a statement. “While mortgage rates decreased slightly month-over-month, it wasn’t by much, so home prices continued to be the primary driving factor for the improvement.” The average income required to buy a home dropped $2,790 in Hamilton, $2,470 in Calgary, $2,290 in Vancouver and $2,230 in Halifax. In Montreal, the average income required to buy a home dropped $1,760 last month, while the income required in Toronto dropped $1,470. Vancouver has the highest income required to purchase a home in Canada at $228,610, followed by Toronto at $195,890, and Victoria at $180,410. Ottawa has the fourth-highest income required to buy a home in Canada.
