Economist: Vancouver housing unaffordability exaggerated

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Recent reports about the unaffordability of Vancouver housing are “exaggerated,” according to an economist for Central 1 Credit Union.

Bryan Yu says the figure that a Vancouver house costs more than 11 times the average local income “overstates actual market conditions”.

He says that’s because the figures used in the calculation do not include Surrey and the rest of the Fraser Valley where prices are lower.

Yu says that excluding Abbotsford and Mission, the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board’s markets are part of “a fully integrated region” that comprises nearly 30% of Metro Vancouver’s population.

He says a rough estimate of the average house price across the region is $738,000 which is 11 per cent below the number for the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board.

Yu adds that the median value, halfway between the highest and lowest, is much lower at about $530,000.

He says this reflects how the average is skewed by multi-million dollar homes at the high end of the market.

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