Incomes versus prices: what say the numbers?

Statistics Canada released a report of household earnings based on 2012 reported income recently. Depending on your POV, you may or may not be surprised to learn Calgarians reported the highest earnings in the nation. Thought it may be fun to compare 2012 earnings with 2014 average home prices as reported by CREA for a few towns in the Great White North.

City	Median income	Average price	Price/Income
Calgary	$98,300	$466,994	4.75
Edmonton	$96,030	$371,839	3.87
Ottawa	$94,230	$365,366	3.87
St. John's	$87,150	$349,649	4.01
Victoria	$81,580	$496,225	6.08
Canada	$74,540	$413,215	5.54
Vancouver	$71,140	$796,714	11.19
Toronto	$71,210	$568,953	7.99

I was surprised by the incomes reported in Victoria. I would have thought they'd be closer to Vancouver. Perhaps not unexpected is the fact that the two most expensive towns to own a home are also below the national average for income. It's not completely clear what the inputs for "average home price" are in CREA's system, but I'd wager they're lumping and smoothing condos, semi-detached and detached. 

Useful exercise? Thoughts? I'm sure some of the more number savvy folks around here can improve upon my Grade 3 level analysis in the comments. 

July update

Busy times at work and home, so haven't had much time for the blog lately. Of course the small matter that we're no longer house hunting in Victoria plays a role.   However the comments are great as always, so here's another post to keep the party going.   

June numbers are out and I'm happy to see that a bit of the old VREB salesman spark is back.  It's a good time to buy and a good time to sell, so everyone should be happy, most of all the realtors.  It was looking like a mass extinction event was underway for Victoria realtors, but this upswing could forestall that.

Year over year sales increases are starting to peter out, mostly because we're starting to compare to months where it was already picking up last year.  Prices up a bit in the core, down a bit on the west shore.

Marko reports that many buyers are holding on to their rentals to get a better price.  Just like they were last year, and the year before, and the year before that.   Eventually, "I'll hold out another year" turns into "f*ck it let's sell".