HOUSING
What does it cost to call Toronto home?
Toronto’s housing market is “severely” unaffordable:
> Toronto’s house prices have tripled since the 1970s.
> Toronto is the 13th least affordable of 86 global cities with populations over 1 million.
> Toronto’s median house price in 2014 was $482,900 and its median household income $73,900.
> An annual income of $126,530 is needed to afford the average home in Toronto, which costs $630,858.
> Toronto is the most expensive place to rent in Canada, and has the fourth-lowest vacancy rate. An average two-bedroom apartment rents for $1,264.
> Almost half of Toronto households rent, and 43.5% of renter households spend more than 30% of pre-tax income on rent (considered the cut-off for affordability).
What about the people without housing options?
Close to 80,000 Toronto households are waiting for affordable housing:
> The “active” waiting list for affordable housing grew by 1.5% last year, 1,139 more than the previous year.
> 3,118 applicants were housed in 2014, 15% fewer than in 2013 and the lowest total in 6 years.
> 6.5% of the population in the city is either living in or waiting for affordable housing.
> The situation for those in the suburbs is especially precarious, with far more waiting than there are spaces available—almost 26,000 for fewer than 20,000 (currently occupied) units. In some areas there are almost twice as many applicants as units.