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That’s led to an $18,300 drop in Hamilton’s average home price from April, to $783,100. As a result, the average required income to qualify for a mortgage decreased by $3,480, while the monthly average mortgage payment fell by $93, to $3,973.
Vancouver: Still out of budget
WouMay was another cool month for Vancouver home sales, leading to further price declines. According to the Greater Vancouver Realtors (GVR), sales were down 18.5% on an annual basis, and 30.5% below the 10-year average. New listings, meanwhile, sit nearly 10% higher than the seasonal average, up 3.9% year over year. That’s kept Vancouver’s SNLR at a mere 33.7%, signalling the market is skewed in favour of buyers.
While still Canada’s most expensive market from a dollar perspective, Vancouver buyers paid $7,500 less on average for a home in May than in April, at a price of $1,177,100. Though that’s helped whittle the required income by $1,420, and the monthly mortgage payment by $38, to $5,973, it’s still steep enough to pose a significant affordability hurdle for buyers.
Victoria: Stable and well-supplied
Demand remains robust for Victoria real estate, but an influx of fresh supply has kept the market fairly balanced. According to the Victoria Real Estate Board, sales were largely unchanged on an annual basis, but rose a whopping 18.1% compared to April. However, “ample choice” supported stability among prices, preventing buyer competition from heating up.
As a result, buyers in Victoria paid $4,600 less for an average-priced home in May compared to April, at $892,700. That translated to a required income $870 lower, and the monthly mortgage payment falling by $23 to $4,530.
Canadian cities where affordability worsened
Eight of 13 cities saw affordability worsen in May—compared to six in April—and the largest month-over-month price increases were seen in markets that have remained financially more accessible to buyers, priced at the $600,000 threshold.
St. John’s: No sales dip here
Unlike other Canadian major markets, home sales haven’t taken a breather in St. John’s; according to the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Realtors, transactions in the city rose 29.5% year over year in May, well outpacing stagnant activity throughout the rest of the province. Much of those sales were concentrated in the pricier single-family home sector, with house sales up 21.2% from May 2024.
Those strong sales pushed the average home price in St. John’s up by $8,900 month over month, to $378,300. For someone applying for a mortgage, that meant their required income rose by $1,690, and that they could expect to pay $45 more each month on their mortgage, at an average payment of $1,919.