http://www.canada.com/Business/Home+ownership+getting+more+affordable/1771375/story.html
Weaker home prices and lower borrowing costs are attracting buyers back into the housing market, according to a report Wednesday by RBC Economics. Declining costs of home ownership during the last year were driven by significant cuts in mortgage rates along with the federal government taking an active role in supporting the mortgage securities market; RBC said. In the first quarter, monthly payments on a typical detached bungalow in Canada had decreased by close to 17 per cent from a year earlier." The average cost to own a bungalow in this year's first quarter was $1,350 a month, down from $1,520 in 2008 fourth quarter and $1,620 in last years first quarter. RBCs affordability index - the percentage of pre-tax monthly household income needed to maintain a home, including mortgage payments, utilities and property taxes improved across all housing segments in Canada.
With property values stabilizing and the effect of the steep drop in mortgage rates likely behind us, further improvement in affordability will depend on greater gains in family income; Hogue added. Those gains will be dictated by the speed of the economic recovery expected during the second half of this year.
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