Sure maybe for the core areas of downtown Toronto this is the case. However prices are also increasing by >20% per year throughout the Golden Horseshoe. In New York, you can commute 30 minutes to Long Island and get an affordable home.  The average home price in Halton region, which is nice enough but by no means "world class", is over $800,000. This is an 80 minute commute without traffic from the downtown core.  That is totally separated from the realities of local incomes.