Newmarket is one of the least affordable cities in which to buy a home, according to a new report from real estate website Zolo.
The May report analyzed 181 Ontario cities based on average home prices from April 2023, weighed against the average income for households. Those ratios were then combined with other factors such as unemployment rates and growth. In the ranking, Newmarket finished 164, with the average Newmarket house costing 8.8 times the average household income.
“Despite a recent uptick of younger Canadians leaving Ontario for more affordable regions east and west, many first-time buyers, move-on-uppers, and downsizers are still trying to figure out where in Ontario to find an affordable property purchase,” the report said.
Newmarket’s average housing price was at $1.147 million in the study, weighed against a household income average of $130,400.
Many York Region cities were similarly low on the list. Markham ranked 173, Richmond Hill ranked 172 and Vaughan ranked 165. GTA municipalities broadly ranked low on the list, with Toronto at 161.
At the other end of the spectrum, cities in the Ottawa area ranked more favourably, with Nepean, Casselman and Ottawa itself ranked second through fourth on the list, with average home prices between $600,000 and $700,000, about five to six times as much as the average household income.
“The capital city of Canada is still affordable,” the Zolo report said. “Ottawa’s population has grown to just over one million. However, this bustling town is still not as busy or crowded as a city like Toronto.”
Top of the list was Wasaga Beach, with average home prices at $325,189 and a price-to-income ratio of 3.54. The bottom of the list was New Liskeard, with home prices averaging about $2.3 million.
The report took unemployment rates, as well as growth into account with the affordability ranking, with higher growth rates considered favourably.
You can find the full rankings and report at zolo.ca/blog/most-affordable-cities-ontario.
