Richmond Hill is the least affordable market to buy a house in Ontario and Thunder Bay is the most economical, according to the latest ranking of the province’s housing markets.

Real estate company Zoocasa calculated the required salary needed to buy an average-priced home, using August numbers from local real estate boards, in 28 major Ontario markets — assuming a 20 per cent down payment with a 3.14 per cent mortgage rate and a 30-year amortization — and compared it to the actual median household income in those regions.

The difference between the two numbers — either surplus or deficit — illustrates the affordability of an average home for the average potential homebuyer, a company press release says.

The (dis)honour of top spot goes to the residential Toronto suburb of Richmond Hill. It has an average home price of $999,311 and a median household income of $88,353, according to Statistics Canada. The income required to afford an average home in Richmond Hill is $136,315, meaning that although the median income is well over the provincial average of $74,287, home owners need nearly $50,000 in addition to the median annual income to responsibly purchase a home.

Vaughan, Markham, Oakville, Burlington, Mississauga, Brampton and Newmarket follow Richmond Hill in the list of least affordable markets in Ontario. All had deficits between the median income and the required home-buying income.

The most affordable market, Thunder Bay, has an average home price of $227,750 and a median household income of $66,163 — more than twice the $31,067 income needed to comfortably buy a house there. Sudbury, Ottawa, Whitby and Waterloo rounded out the five most affordable cities. All had surpluses of more than $15,000 between median and required income.

The city of Toronto, considered the least affordable housing market in Ontario in most people’s minds, was bumped out of top spot in the ranking because of its “diverse mix of housing,” the press release says.

Condo sales made up 56 per cent of all Toronto home sales in August, while in Richmond Hill, 52 per cent of new home purchases in August were detached houses, so it came out on top.

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Jack Hauen is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star's radio room in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @jackhauen

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