....what would be classed as a good salary in vancouver and an excellent salary...family of 4 wife not working.....cheers

street sweeper or rocket scientist ?

As a rocket scientist with a PhD you could expect to start on around $35,000 per year. An assistant professor rocket scientist running a lab of student and post-doctoral rocket scientists would probably earn upwards of $85,000.

That's in academe. In the industrial sector, I imagine the sky's the limit. Or not, as the case may be.

It depends on where you mean. The City of Vancouver, or Metro Vancouver

In the City itself, the average salary is around $50,000. A professional salary starts around $80,000. Very few people earn over $100,000. In the suburbs you would be looking at less. By the time you get to Langley or Maple Ridge you can easily discount these by 20%.

wow these figures are low........how di people exist on this in vancouver....

Very few families have just one income.

And you have to remember that the huge rise in real estate prices is a relatively recent phenomenon. Those who bought a few years ago (and despite constant immigration this is most people) are sitting on a huge amount of paper equity, but relatively small mortgages.

The sea and the mountains, the beaches and the parks are all free.

40 year mortgages? Two incomes? It's a good question.

By dispensing with such frivolities as having children.

yeah,but we have all made money over the last 5 years...so relatively everyone has done well........but you don't want to live off this as it's capital/savings/asset...........

You can think of it how you want, it's still money.

Let's just pluck some figures out of the air as an example.

Brit arrives in Vancouver with $200,000 (100,000 pounds) and buys a house worth $400,000 with a $200,000 mortgage. Ten years later the house is worth $1M but the mortgage has been paid down to $100,000.

There is no way a new arrival can afford to pay $1M unless they are bringing in shed loads of money, but the Brit who has been here 10 years with with a $1M house, but only $100,000 mortgage, can live very comfortably on what would otherwise seem a modest income.

It is not a lot of comfort to you, I agree.

So how do new people get into the market? They scrimp and save a deposit, they max out their borrowing, buy the home they can afford (and not the home they want) give up on holidays and flash cars for years, and so on. Just like I did 30 years ago, and just like most people do everywhere. There are no silly borrowing formulas in Canada like there used to be in the UK so there is still a link between earnings, mortgage amounts, and therefore the price of starter homes. I have said elsewhere that in the City of Vancouver a family with children need a combined gross income of $100,000 or so to get onto the property ladder and survive. However, renting is a much more affordable option. As are the suburbs.

hi,i do not disagree........but we have enough for property,schooling etc just wanted to know what constitutes a good income in vancouver....and am surprised at just how low end it is..........

[QUOTE=JonboyE;6571508]It depends on where you mean. The City of Vancouver, or Metro Vancouver

Very few people earn over $100,000. .....unless you work for a Crown corporation. Check the annual published salaries for Crown employees you will be shocked!!!!!!!

RBC recently (a month ago) encouraged me to take on a 40 year mortgage. That would see me well past the usual retirement age.

I have several friends (well educated professionals) who are in their mid-forties and still rent as they either cannot afford a mortgage or are unwilling to risk their savings in the current market. Of course, I also know people who bought in when the prices were more sensible. In spite of being professionals (registered), they are earning significantly less than the salaries quoted above. You cut your coat according to your cloth as they say.

(Edit: and the homeowners also have two incomes.)

Hi

As of 15/10/08 longest amortization period in Canada will be 35 years, minimum of 5% down.