![\"Houses](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760097729_476_default.jpg\")
Out of 11 Canadian cities studied in the report, Halifax has the widest gap between house prices and what the typical household could afford. (Andrew Lam\/CBC)<\/p>\n
A recent report from Ottawa\u2019s fiscal watchdog found that house prices in Halifax are 74 per cent higher on average than what the typical household can afford.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Affordability has not improved since the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer\u2019s previous assessment of house prices in February 2022, said director of policy Louis Perrault.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt stayed relatively fixed or actually a bit worse than it was before.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s in contrast with cities like Toronto and Hamilton, Ont., where affordability has improved. Out of the 11 Canadian cities studied by the report, Halifax has the widest gap between house prices and what the typical household could afford.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the post-pandemic period, house prices have moderated in some of the most expensive CMAs [census metropolitan areas] but have continued to increase in other markets such as Halifax,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n
Halifax Realtor Umme Sardar said the housing market when she began her career in the Greater Toronto Area around 2002 was similar to that of Halifax during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
It was \u201cthe crazy seller\u2019s market, the bidding wars,\u201d she said, adding that currently in Halifax the market for condos and higher-priced homes has softened slightly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sardar said one reason prices continue to rise is that demand still outstrips supply.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government \u2026 they seriously are working on reducing the red tape and the bureaucracy to streamline housing starts, but it\u2019s still not enough,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are playing catch-up.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the Nova Scotia Association of Realtors, homes in Halifax-Dartmouth sold for more than $600,000<\/a> on average in the first nine months of this year. That’s up 3.9 per cent from last year.\u00a0<\/p>\nOut of 11 Canadian cities studied in the report, Halifax has the widest gap between house prices and what the typical household could afford. (Andrew Lam\/CBC)<\/p>\n