Housing affordability has reached crisis level in Vancouver, and is nearing that point in Victoria.

An assessment of the 25 largest cities in both Canada and the U.S. shows that housing in Vancouver is by far the least affordable.

Affordability is defined as the ­average cost of housing divided by average ­family income.

In Vancouver, that results in an affordability ratio of 13.5, meaning the cost of housing there is 13.5 times average family income. That’s far above cities like Los Angeles (at 10.7) and Toronto (at 10.4). Notably, housing in such major U.S. centres as New York and Boston is even more affordable. (These numbers are based on the Multiple Listing Service benchmark in Canada, and an equivalent U.S.-based benchmark.)

This huge difference in affordability is not because housing is cheaper in the leading American cities. It’s not.

The price of a typical home in Los Angeles is $1.3 million, and in San ­Francisco........

© Times Colonist