My housing costs are low in Vancouver because I bought several years ago before prices were too crazy. So my starting mortgage was much lower than it would be for a first time home buyer today. I also made accelerated payments on my mortgage.

So timing and a bit of luck. I could not afford to enter the Vancouver housing market today.

When they speak about the percent income required to own a house in Vancouver, they only speak about first time home buyers entering the market today. The housing costs for current owners who have been in the market for some time (like me) or current owners selling and buying are not as high because their starting mortgages were much lower and they have lots of equity for a down payment.

But I do sometimes feel the pain of people trying to enter the market or renters. For example, I’ve had a couple great job offers in the SF bay area in the last few years, but I turned them down because the cost of renting would have eaten away more than the salary increase. I was not willing to sell my house in Vancouver to remedy this (i.e. have a big down payment for a house there).