Here's what you actually need to make in a year to afford a home in Toronto right now

Toronto may have a ridiculous number of homes just sitting on the market these days, but affordability seems to be worse than ever lately, with real estate prices remaining unduly high and more homeowners unable to pay their mortgage bills.

And it's no surprise, given what buyers need to earn per year to comfortably cover the cost of buying the average place in Toronto.

A new report from Ratehub.ca has put this amount at a whopping $215,920 per year as of May 2024 based on current home prices, as well as interest and stress test rates, with a 20 per cent down payment. It also takes into account $4,000 in yearly property taxes and $150 in monthly heating.

And, while this figure is likely unbelievable to most residents and is the second-highest of any major Canadian city (after Vancouver, of course), it actually shows a slight improvement compared to the month earlier.

Ratehub.ca's calculation for what someone looking to buy a house or condo in Toronto needs to make each year to afford a standard mortgage with a 20 per cent down payment and 25-year amoritization.

The mortgage comparison site, which provides these measures monthly, found that purchasing the average house or condo in the city necessitated an annual salary of about $1,250 more in April 2024 than May, due to the mean home prices being $5,900 lower.

Still, more than $200k per annum is nothing to sneeze at, and puts property ownership out of reach for many living in 6ix, though most of us are likely desensitized to these sky-high amounts by this point.

Interestingly, Hamilton was the Canadian city that saw affordability weaken the most, with a $9,400 month-over-month increase in average home prices, making for $1,550.