Quebec City or Edmonton? Who’s moving where for affordable housing

globalnews.ca:

Real estate professionals would use the old phrase “drive until you qualify” to give prospective homebuyers in Canada’s biggest cities an idea of how to break into the housing market: essentially, get out of the expensive urban areas to find a cheaper home you can afford.

But a Royal LePage report released Wednesday reveals that many first-time buyers now feel they might have to fly to qualify, moving out of province to more affordable destinations.

The report measures 15 of Canada’s more affordable housing markets as of the first quarter of 2024, and also includes a survey of which cities are most alluring for Canadians currently living in the Greater Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver areas. Some 900 Canadians were surveyed from May 13 to 16 via Leger’s online platform.

The ranking of most affordable markets, based on the percentage of monthly income needed to service a typical mortgage payment on a representative home, saw Thunder Bay, Ont., come out on top. Saint John, N.B., Red Deer, Alta., Trois-Rivières, Que., and Edmonton rounded out the top five, in that order.

But while Thunder Bay was the outright most affordable, Edmonton was the top choice for current residents of the Greater Toronto and Vancouver areas thinking about a move. Alberta’s capital city was the most attractive and affordable destination for 19 per cent of respondents from these markets in the poll.

St. John’s, N.L., and Thunder Bay rounded out the top three for both markets.

Karen Yolevski, Royal LePage’s chief operating officer, said it’s “not that surprising” to see Edmonton top the list for Toronto and Vancouver residents, given Statistics Canada data showing interprovincial migration trends from Ontario and B.C. flooding into Alberta.

According