The burden of owning a single-family house in Prince George continues to rise but only slowly, according to a report released last week by the B.C. Northern Real Estate Board.
The proportion of median household income required to cover mortgage costs, municipal taxes and fees, and utilities for the average single family home stood at 30.3 per cent in Prince George in 2013 up marginally from 29.4 per cent in 2010.
Rising home prices have been the biggest contributor, according to report author Leslie Lax, and the trend has continued. The average price in 2013 was just under $260,000, compared to $241,000 in 2010.
The average for northern B.C. as a whole was 29.4 per cent. Mackenzie provided the best deal at 20.8 per cent, followed by Smithers and Quesnel at 27.7 per cent. Only 100 Mile House, at 34.8 per cent, posed a bigger burden than Prince George among communities in the region.
Affordability in Fort St. John stood at 29.9 per cent, largely because average family income in the community was $88,000, compared to $66,000 for the region as a whole.
The whole region compares favourably to Vancouver, according to the report, which calculates the burden in that city at 87.4 per cent.
The number does not tell the entire story in B.C. Real Estate Association economist Brendon Ogmundson's opinion but agreed owning a traditional single-family house in Prince George still costs significantly less than in the Lower Mainland let alone Vancouver.
"If you looked at what would be a first-time home buyer product in Vancouver, you would be looking more at a townhouse or a condo versus in Prince George, you would be more likely to get a single-detached house at a comparable price," Ogmundson said.
To buy a single-family home in Vancouver, a purchaser needs to build up significant equity, and about 80 per cent of housing starts in the Lower Mainland are for condominiums and other types of multiple-unit housing, he said. In Prince George, 35 per cent of starts in 2013 were multiple family and so far this year, the percentage is about 10 per cent.
