New reports on housing affordability and household debt across Canada tell a particularly scary story in B.C.

The numbers show housing across the country became less affordable in the second quarter of 2013 and people took on more debt.

But the bigger story may be in how much worse off B.C. consumers and homebuyers are, particularly in Vancouver.

The situation is not just much worse. It’s out of whack, extreme, shocking, eyeball-popping.

On Wednesday, Burlington-based TransUnion Canada advised, Canadians’ average non-mortgage debt is up 3.4 per cent over a year ago, to $27,131.

But in B.C., the average consumer debt tally, up by nearly three per cent, totalled $38,672.

That means the amount we carry on credit cards, bank loans, lines of credits and car loans is 42.5 per cent higher than our fellow Canadians.

And that’s probably because, after paying for housing, we’re unable to find cash for other things that normally are part of a middle-class lifestyle.

On Tuesday, Royal Bank Economics reported on national housing affordability, pointing to a deterioration in affordability since the first quarter.

In major markets such as Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, the report says it is now “somewhat of a stretch for typical households to own a single-family home.”

But, in Vancouver, trying to buy a single-family home is more like being put on the rack.

It may surprise some to learn, but Vancouver housing had started to become a bit more affordable in 2011 and 2012. That trend has now reversed itself.

The report says a surge in second-quarter home buying suggests “the market correction has run its course and the risk of a catastrophic outcome (prices plummeting) has greatly diminished.”

The Royal Bank calculates that paying for a two-storey, 1,500-square-foot mortgaged home in Vancouver consumes nearly 86 per cent of median pre-tax household income, compared to 48 per cent across Canada.

And so, the buyer of such a home in Vancouver would need median pre-tax household income of $159,000 to qualify for a mortgage, given a 25-per-cent downpayment.

Median pre-tax household income in Vancouver is $67,090 — below the Canadian average of $69,860.

A 1,200-square-foot bungalow in Vancouver would gobble 82 per cent of median household income.

While Toronto house prices also are high, accounting for a significant chunk of income, they are not crazy-high.

For example, 54.5 per cent of household income is claimed by a detached bungalow in Canada’s largest city.

Even a Vancouver condo takes 40.7 per cent of household income.

Following a period of pulling back in the first quarter, both on buying homes and making consumer purchases, Canadians — including Vancouverites — have subsequently resumed their spending.

It is hard to pull back forever. Prices go up, life goes on, people keep on spending.

But it’s a safe bet that many of those who own rather than rent in Vancouver are in financial distress. And what happens when interest rates rise?

Yet politicians never talk about this issue and, in crafting public policy, continue to ignore the extraordinary financial demands on people in this city.

Of course, politicians cannot do much about house prices in a free-market economy.

But proposed road pricing schemes, additional transit levies, annual tax hikes, an excessive Property Transfer Tax — such things are exasperating for a citizenry having trouble making ends meet.

Federal Liberals are smart to make the plight of the middle class a main campaign theme in the next election.

Their platform will have special resonance on the West Coast.

byaffe@vancouversun.com