Winnipeg in top 10 for affordability
We’re one cheap city
Winnipeg in top 10 for affordability Mon Jan 22 2007 - Winnipeg Free Press By Jen Skerritt THE cost of buying a home in Winnipeg has jumped, but a new study says it's still one of the most affordable cities to live in. For the second year in a row, Winnipeg was ranked among the most affordable places to live in an international study. Regina is considered the most affordable city in Canada, with Winnipeg and Quebec City tied in second place. The study was done by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, and measured the cost of buying a home compared to a person's salary in cities in Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Winnipeg's affordability ranked ninth overall -- well ahead of dozens of cities -- and was comparable to housing prices in Wichita, Kan., Toledo, Ohio and Omaha, Neb. Speaking to the Free Press on Sunday, study author Wendell Cox of St. Louis had a message for Winnipeg homeowners still not sold on their city. "When you get up in the morning and it's very cold in mid-January, ask yourself, 'Would I be happier in a tiny apartment in Vancouver, (where) it's raining outside and I'm not a whole lot more comfortable?' " Cox said. "The fact is, Winnipeg is very affordable, and I would expect this to continue. These are not things that fluctuate wildly. "As long as the people in charge -- the mayor, city council and provincial politicians -- stay out of the way and allow the free development of the market, Winnipeg is in a far-improved, competitive position." The median house price in the city is estimated at $130,100, and the median household annual income is about $52,000. Housing affordability is luring people to Winnipeg, or, in the case of Gail Suszynski, luring them back. "Anybody going out to Calgary right now on a job offer is crazy, because the prices of homes are unbelievable, and rent is atrocious," said Suszynski, who recently returned to Winnipeg after living in Calgary since 1993. Suszynski sold a 900-square-foot unit of a side-by-side in Calgary for $310,000. It sold in less than 30 hours. She then bought a considerably larger and nicer side-by-side in Winnipeg for less than two-thirds that price. "I had never really planned on coming back, but with prices going the way they are, and with crime way up in Calgary...," Suszynski said. A common house price in Calgary is $300,000 to $400,000 today, "whereas here, it gets you a small mansion," said Susan Domanski, a Century 21 realtor in Winnipeg. Even a starter home in Vancouver costs $300,000, compared with $100,000 to $120,000 here, Domanski said. "It's a world away in terms of prices." On average, it takes Winnipeggers 2.5 years of salary to buy a home -- up slightly from 2.4 years in 2005. Last year, Winnipeg was ranked the most affordable place to live in Canada and ranked third compared to other international cities. Wes Schollenberg, president of WinnipegRealtors Association, said the study confirms that the city offers a better quality of life compared to cities such as Calgary and Edmonton. Although the cost of some homes in Winnipeg has jumped 15 per cent in the last year, Schollenberg said that pales in comparison to the average $400,000 price tag in cities such as Calgary. "There's always been people who have moved from B.C. and Alberta, especially retirees, who take the equity in their home and live like a king here," he said. "It's a bit of a quality-of-life issue." Saskatoon, Ottawa, London, Ont., and Oshawa were also included in a list of the top 40 affordable housing markets in the six countries. Schollenberg expects Winnipeg's housing market to continue making healthy gains in 2007, but said people shouldn't worry about skyrocketing prices. He said the rise won't be as noticeable as it was last year or match the sharp increases seen in provinces such as Alberta. The cost of construction materials and the demand for skilled labour will help drive up prices, he said. The city's apartment vacancy rate remains stable, and construction of apartment blocks, seniors' residences and condos will likely continue to grow. "We're just sort of catching up," Schollenberg said. Walter Boni, past president of the Winnipeg Real Estate Board, said the only drawback about the city's housing market is property taxes. He said Manitoba is one of the only provinces that lumps education and property taxes together, making the bill seem that much higher. He said there is a movement among realtors to get the province to not include education with property taxes, and take away the initial shock of seeing an average annual tax bill of $2,800 for a home worth $160,000. "Education tax is almost 50 per cent of our tax bill," he said. "It's a real shock for people coming here from other places." -- With files from Jason Bell and Bill Redekop Most affordable places to live (years of salary required to purchase home) 1) Fort Wayne, Ind. (2.0) 2) Regina, Sask. (2.0) 3) Youngstown, Ohio (2.0) 4) Buffalo, N.Y. (2.3) 5) Dayton, Ohio (2.3) 6) Indianapolis, Ind. (2.3) 7) Rochester, N.Y. (2.3) 8) Akron, Ohio (2.4) 9) Winnipeg (2.5) 10) Des Moines, Iowa (2.6) Least affordable places to live (years of salary required to purchase home) 1) Orange County, Calif. (11.4) 2) San Diego, Calif. (10.5) 3) Honolulu, Hawaii (10.3) 4) San Francisco, Calif. (10.1) 5) Ventura County, Calif. (9.4) 6) Stockton, Calif. (8.6) 7) Sydney, Australia (8.5) 8) San Jose, Calif. (8.4) 9) London, U.K. (8.3) 10) Dorset, U.K. (8.2) © 2007 Winnipeg Free Press. All Rights Reserved. _________________________________________________________________ Time to move back home to the Motherland!.....:rolleyes: |
This story brings an interesting question... medians are fine (to be honest I'm amazed the median income in Winnipeg is so high, but I guess with 2 income families being the norm these days...), but what about you folks? How does this compare to reality for you? I'm sitting around 4.5 years personally. Is that excessive compared to the rest of the folks here?
I'm fondly remembering the days in Winnipeg where it seemed that everyone had a $300/month mortgage payment, and was earning at least $25,000 annually. That's around 2 years, give or take. How much have things changed for "regular folk"? |
I wish these comparisons would use the costs on a monthly basis (mortgage, property tax and utilities) and then compare it to monthly income after income tax.
The last I heard the median household income in Calgary was over $73,000/year. With the lower taxes Albertans take home more income and when you take the $21,000/year above Manitoba, it can go a LONG way towards paying a mortgage. $1700/month is almost a $300k mortgage. At the end of the day I think that if you want to compare 2 income families in Calgary with 2 income families in Winnipeg the Calgararians will still end up ahead of those in Winnipeg. Also, Winnipeggers need to remember that the property taxes on a $300k home in Winnipeg will cost around $5000-6000/year compared to $1800/year in Calgary. So much for "living like a king in a mansion". |
Now that I have entered the work force - my DINK household is sitting comfortably. The mortgage on our 1550 sq ft. house in Wolseley is just under $600 a month. All told we are now spending under 20% of gross income on household expenses. And that's everything - taxes, utilities, groceries...
Now granted, our house is 100 years old, and needs a little TLC - but it's a solid place in a great "midtown" location. My sister lives in Calgary, and she and her husband make about the same as us, and are currently renting a house in Calgary where the rent alone is more than everything we pay for our place... |
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Based on your 20% figure for household expenses I would assume that you are making well over $52,000/yr. |
^yes I am above the median - but my sister is also well above the Calgary median of 72k...
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If they are making "well above" $72,000 why cant they afford to buy a house? Are they living beyond their means? I know of a number of people who make over $100,000 and are still renting because they like driving new cars, eating out every dinner and wearing designer clothing. |
^It's about that size, with a garage etc.
well I guess the point is that with similar incomes in Winnipeg and Calgary - you can live it up in Winnipeg (new cars, eating out, etc.) AND own a house - whereas Calgary it may be either or... |
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Assuming a 15-20% hit in salary and income tax benefits moving from Calgary to Winnipeg it ended up being pretty close to a wash. I think the difference was that I would be left with about $200/month more in Winnipeg, but that didnt include the fact that I would be paying an additional 7% PST on purchases. At the end of the day it didnt work out to be THAT great of an advantage. Remember you are also only comparing people that currently dont own a house and probably have a small (if any) downpayment for one. There are many households that bought their houses prior to the recent boom that have $200,000+ in equity into their houses and dont have massive mortgage payments that some would expect buying a house at the top of the Calgary market. For these people the advantage of moving to Winnipeg is even less as their mortgage payments arent that burdensome. |
^ true. But in reality most people who are moving to Calgary are young and have never been homeowners . It would really hurt to be entering the Calgary housing market as a new grad, or young couple - even if you are making about 100K a year - especially coupled with student debt.
There would be the biggest difference between the cities. |
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My friend is a recent engineering grad and will make $25k more in Calgary than Winnipeg. He rents a one bedroom apartment near the LRT for $700/month and hopes to have his student loans paid in under 2 years. In Winnipeg (making less money) he wouldnt qualify for a big enough mortgage with his student loan payments and the rental market isnt cheap enough to make the $25k salary cut worth the money. |
Living in a house is so... retro. Almost cute, in a way...
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^ most cities don't have many condos that are family friendly so are still typically the more attractive option for people with young kids.
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^ Children?
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Put it this way - 80% left over out of $50,000 is still far less than 70% left over out of $100,000. Those aren't the numbers (in fact they're somewhat extreme), but one thing these affordability studies don't take into account is how much disposable income you have left. Yeah, paying a higher proportion of your income towards housing seems to suck, but when you *still* have more left over after each paycheque... I've said it before, and I know many people like this: I could, right now, move to Winnipeg and live mortgage-free for the rest of my life. I'd still end up with less money at the end of the day. I realize that I'm not everyone though. Being single and/or having student loans to pay off would just about kill me here. Lesson learned: pay your way through school. :tup: |
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I guess this thought is crossing the minds of many former Winnipegers lately :-) Our house was assessed $200k more (in November) than what we paid 3.5 years ago...mortgage-free living in Winnipeg is an option. However, as you point out, you still may not get ahead (property and income taxes, and PST being the biggest factors). |
^ it all depends on what you personally define as "getting ahead".
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After all, wasn't the original claim that Winnipeg is more affordable than Calgary? If it is more affordable I should have more money in the bank in Winnipeg at the end of the day. Unfortunately with the current taxation in Winnipeg and low salaries for equal jobs, this is just not the case for many people. |
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