Are you ready to buy your first home in Canada but housing affordability is making it almost impossible? You’re not alone. If you live in a highly populated region, chances are home prices have skyrocketed, and moving to more affordable cities seems much more attractive to your wallet. A new report is out, looking at the most affordable and expensive cities based on how much it costs to buy a house in Canada. And here’s what you need to know.
Brokerage and real estate website Zoocasa has released its latest report using data provided by the Canadian Real Estate Association and compared cities across Canada, evaluating their overall average price of residential homes from January to December 2022.
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Let’s rip off the bandaid and look at the top three most expensive cities and average prices in Canada. Those living in southern Ontario could probably guess what city/region is the most expensive and according to the report, it’s not far from the GTA. Oakville-Milton in the Halton region is the most expensive city in Canada with an average residential home price of $1,393,608.
In second place is Greater Vancouver with an average of $1,199,542 and Greater Toronto is only a few thousand behind, in third place with an average of $1,195,950 in 2022.
And believe it or not, according to Zoocasa the Oakville-Milton area saw benchmark prices at the start of 2022 around $1,646,900 in February but dropped to $1,280,600 just before the year ended.
“While other regions of the country provide more reasonably priced home alternatives with various perks, property values in some locations continue to be expensive and out of many people’s price ranges,” states the Zoocasa report. “Unfortunately, due to their restricted availability or intense rivalry for desired homes, obtaining these possibilities may take a lot of work.”
Now before we get all gloomy and give our hopes up, there are still affordable cities in Canada, believe it or not.
The east coast is home to the most affordable cities at the moment – Saint John, New Brunswick is in first place with an average home price of $276,450 with Frederiction right behind at $284,667. Surprisingly enough, Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario is the third most affordable with an average home price of $291,967.
St. Johns, Newfoundland and Labrador has an average price of $312,858, Greater Moncton at $320,817, and Regina right behind at $321,642.
As for the major cities in Canada, Victoria B.C saw an average price of $929,642, Calgary, Alberta saw an average price of $515,958 while Edmonton saw home prices at an average of $389,925, Montreal at $528,083, and Ottawa at an average of $669,908.
From comparing housing costs in different cities to simply making enough money per year to qualify for a mortgage, it’s rough out there for home buyers. But for those more interested in experiencing the best quality of life AND living in a more affordable city, there’s still hope.
But that means we might have to look elsewhere for that little bit of happiness.
