Categories: Lifestyle

These Canadian cities are among the best places to buy a home right now

Photo via Content zilla / Shutterstock

Are you house hunting right now? You may want to do your searching in these cities, which have been named the top buyers’ markets in Canada for spring 2023.

Real estate website Zoocasa has released a new report analyzing the top buyers’ and sellers’ markets across the country in March 2023.

Zoocasa says that new listings nationwide hit a 20-year low and it’s heating up the competition among eager buyers.

The report looks at the best places to buy and sell a home in Canada based on the sales-to-new-listings ratio (SNLR) in each region.

“The SNLR is used to effectively show the level of demand and supply in each area, and help identify how much competition local buyers face with regard to supply,” says Zoocasa.

Each SNLR is calculated into a percentage — a ratio of 40% or less is considered a buyers market, while 40% to 60% is a balanced market, and 60% or more is a sellers’ market.

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Among the 26 major markets in Canada for buying a home, there were unfortunately no buyers’ markets last month.

However, there are several markets that are in the balanced range, which benefits buyers and sellers equally.

There are also markets with percentages that are on the lower end of the scale, tipping in the favour of buyers.

According to the report, Niagara region is the closest to being a buyers’ market in Canada with an SNLR of 42% and an average price of $666,144.

Here are the top buyers’ markets in Canada for spring 2023.

Niagara Region: 42%
Windsor-Essex: 45%
Greater Toronto: 47%
Fraser Valley: 47%
Greater Vancouver: 49%
London and St. Thomas: 50%
Hamilton and Burlington: 52%
Victoria: 52%
Kitchener-Waterloo: 54%
Ottawa: 54%
Edmonton: 55%

That isn’t to say that these places have the most affordable homes. In fact, only a few of these regions have house prices below the national average.

However, compared to Canada’s competitive sellers’ markets, you may have the upper hand when buying a home in these cities.