RBC Affordability Report May 2012

RBC is out with their affordability report for May 2012

Here is their take on Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan —Affordability improves; resales surge
Saskatchewan was the only provincial market showing an across-the-board improvement in housing affordability in the first quarter. Minimal price increases or even declines (in the case of two-storey homes) in the first threemonth period helped lower the costs of homeownership for all housing segments in the province. The RBC measures fell between 0.2 and 2.0 percentage points, thereby representing, for the most part, the third-consecutive quarterly improvement. This latest easing in the measures brought affordability levels even closer to long-term averages in Saskatchewan, which implies that any undue stress being exerted on provincial homebuyers is dissipating. Very strong market activity since the fall of last year seems to corroborate this. Home resales have surged to record-high levels in the first quarter of this year in Saskatchewan. Rapid economic growth will continue to support the province’s housing market in 2012.

Saskatchewan is the 3rd least affordable province after BC and Ontario, but only slightly higher than their historic average.

Saskatoon remains one of the most unaffordable cities in Canada when measuring monthly payments (not by much though) but it's down considerably from the highs of 2008, mostly because of lower interest rates.

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