Canadian Homebuyers Need Nearly Double The Median Income To Buy

Canadian housing affordability continues to improve, but it remains far from affordable. National Bank Financial’s (NBF) Housing Affordability Index improved in Q2 2026. The bank’s data shows a record-long streak of improvements hasn’t put any markets within reach. Buying a typical home requires a household income nearly double the median, rising to over a quarter-million in the most expensive market. Canadian Housing Affordability Improves As Prices Fall The bank’s data shows housing affordability improved for a tenth consecutive quarter. Falling home prices drove the improvements across the C10, an index of the ten largest cities. The price of a typical home in the index fell 2.1% to $761,179 in Q2 2026, down 4.6% from last year. This helped lower monthly mortgage payments, but they would still be a stretch for most. With a traditional down payment (20%), the bank estimates mortgage payments would be $4,089/month. That works out to 51.1% of the income of a median household, 10.4 points above the 40.7% average since 2000. To actually qualify for that mortgage, the minimum household income is now $175,317. A median household only needs an 81.5% pay bump and the market should be boo...