Cost of owning a home up slightly in late 2009: RBC

By THE CANADIAN PRESS March 15, 2010

A new report says the cost of owning a home in Canada increased slightly across all housing segments in the
closing months of 2009.

RBC Economics says rising prices made it more expensive to own a home, but that was partly offset by a small
drop in mortgage rates and higher wages.

Senior economist Robert Hogue says while affordability deteriorated in the fourth quarter of 2009, the change
was relatively modest.

The RBC index looks at the proportion of pre-tax household income needed to service the costs of owning a
home.

The index for a detached bungalow rose 0.3% to 40.6% and a standard townhouse rose by 0.2 percentage points
to 32.9%.

The standard condo climbed 0.1% up to 28% and the standard two-storey home increased by 0.3 percentage
points to 46.7%.

Despite the recent increase, all affordability measures remain well below their levels from a year ago.