A commentary by a Victoria resident who was a Realtor for about 20 years and redeveloped more than 10 properties around B.C. during that time.

To follow up and expand my letter in the Friday edition, it’s worth noting that the Missing Middle Initiative website says: “To keep families from moving away … cities need to build three-bedroom homes that these families can OWN!”

It’s all well and good to make such an argument, but surely it must start with asking: what can families afford?

Let’s look at the numbers:

Google says that the average Canadian, Jill Doe, earns $55,000 a year, or $4,600 per month. Let’s say Jill and Jean, another average earner, move in together and pool their resources.

If they keep their debt ratio at 37 per cent (typically, banks will lend between 32 per cent and 44 per cent of the buyer’s gross income), they could qualify for mortgage payments of $3,376 per month.

With an average interest rate of 4.5%, their payments would........

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