As we all know, buying a house in today’s day and age sometimes seems almost impossible. In bigger cities throughout Canada, mortgages can seem unrealistic, especially for first-time homebuyers. If you happen to be living in Vancouver that challenge can be even harder. Vancouver has the highest housing prices in Canada, and people are actually leaving the city because they can’t afford to live there anymore.

Andy Yan, director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University, conducted a 2018 study which shows that housing prices are the highest in Vancouver, while those who live in Vancouver are actually making the lowest income in the country. Yan has coined Vancouver the “least affordable city in the country,”.

Vancouver is known to attract a younger student population who attend university and then rely on rental homes to live. Yet eventually, when you want to be able to move into a home to start your life and career, it's not an option for many people in Vancouver and they are forced to move elsewhere.

In a December housing report, Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver valued the average price of a detached home at $1 million and an apartment at around $664,100 while an attached home is being sold for around $809,700.

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With the average Vancouver household being paid the lowest income, it’s nearly impossible to even begin to save up for these high prices. This means that Vancouver is starting to lose a lot of its young professionals and talents as they start to move elsewhere for work, which can clearly be seen in the teacher shortage that Vancouver is facing right now.

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A young couple, Iain Reeve and Cassandra Sclauzero were driven out of Vancouver this year. Both wanting to further their career and start a family, they were interested in finding a permanent home. However, they found themselves moving from rental to rental and constantly being relocated.

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Reeve shared his frustrations with the Canadian Press, "The rental market didn't have stability. We both had settled into pretty good first jobs. But as much as we loved the city and had these connections it wasn't worth it,".

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The government has acknowledged the ever-growing problem and has announced that they are putting measures in place to try and lower the real estate market. They have put a limited rent increase of 2.5 percent per year and are attempting to make housing more affordable.

However, Vancouver is still losing their talent and young professionals who could help to better the city. Yan spoke out about the issue, stating, “And I think that one of the biggest challenges is that how do you build an economy- one that is knowledge-based- when the population seems to be leaving the city?”.

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Now that Vancouver has started to become unaffordable, Vancouverites are starting to look for new places to start their lives and careers.

Source: CTV News