Study on income required and square-foot prices show Oshawa one of most affordable Ontario real estate markets

A study on the income required to buy a 1,500 sq. ft home in Ontario has Oshawa way down the list with the Motor City the most affordable city in the GTA and in the top ten for the province.

The data showed that a prospective homeowner would need an income of $138,202 to afford a 1,500 sq. ft. home – less than a quarter of the $591,828 required to be a homeowner in Toronto, the most expensive city in Ontario.

Other cities on the most expensive list include Halton Hills, Aurora, Richmond Hill, Oakville, King, Mississauga, Vaughan, Burlington and Caledon.

Timmins was the cheapest location discovered in the study, with an annual income of less than $65,000 needed to be a homeowner. Oshawa landed in 8^th spot and is the only city in the GTA on the list, with the rest of the ‘affordable ten’ including SS Marie (also under $100K at $97,665), Chatham, Cornwall, Belleville, North Bay, Leamington, Sarnia and Windsor.

Two Durham communities come in at less than $200,000 in Brock ($187,014) and Ajax ($198,258) while homebuyers in the rest of Durham Region all need between $200,000 and $300,000 in family income to own a 1,500 sq. ft. home, including Uxbridge at $293,900.

The study also broke down the price per square foot for real estate where Toronto was again the priciest in the province at $1,400 – a record for the city. The average for Ontario was $650 and three cities in Durham reported higher than average square foot prices: Uxbridge (#12 on the list) at $760; Whitby at $677 and Scugog at $655.

Clarington ($621), Pickering ($617), Ajax ($572) and Brock ($530) were below average, while Oshawa was among the cheapest in Ontario at $417 per sq. ft., good for eighth lowest in the province.

Number #1 is Timmins again, with their sq. ft. price of $203 a seventh of Toronto’s prices.