TORONTO — The cost of owning a home hit its highest level since 1990 in the latest quarter, according to a report from the Royal Bank.

The Bank says a long upward trend in house prices driven by a strong economy that has seen growth in the job market is to blame.

The affordability study, which measures how much pretax household income it takes to own a home, found that condos are the cheapest, needing 30 per cent of pretax income.

A townhouse takes about 34.5 per cent, a detached bungalow 42.5 per cent while a standard two-storey home required 48 per cent of pretax income.

Those costs rose everywhere in the country except in Alberta, where the cooling housing market saw costs of owning a home drop in all categories.

On the bright side, the report says dropping mortgage rates, slower gains in house prices and income growth should improved affordability across most markets.