A new report says the cost of owning a home in Canada increased slightly across all housing segments in the closing months of 2009.

RBC Economics says rising prices made it more expensive to own a home, but that was partly offset by a small drop in mortgage rates and higher wages. Senior economist Robert Hogue says while affordability deteriorated in the fourth quarter of 2009, the change was relatively modest.

The RBC index looks at the proportion of pre-tax household income needed to service the costs of owning a home.

The index for a detached bungalow rose 0.3 per cent to 40.6 per cent and a standard townhouse rose by 0.2 percentage points to 32.9 per cent.

The standard condo climbed 0.1 per cent up to 28 per cent and the standard two-storey home increased by 0.3 percentage points to 46.7 per cent.

Despite the recent increase, all affordability measures remain well below their levels from a year ago.