Housing Prices in Canadian Cities

[lio45]

Originally Posted by jeremy_haak

That $200,000 house looks way nicer than the $310,000 one imo.

Agreed, but don't forget that a big part of the reason behind the price gap is that the $200k house will cost its owner a LOT more money every year in recurring costs (heating, insurance, maintenance, etc.)

"Undesirability" and "high recurring costs" will both drive a given house's price down, but they're completely different factors.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

Those are all grand mansions, investment properties, or prime waterfront lots. Like I said, no non-mansions for sale over $500k. Whereas in Toronto & Ottawa there's definitely houses falling fall short of mansion status that cost over $500k. A typical detached in a neighbourhood like Westboro or Rosedale is, what, over a million? Not even in Sydenham (Kingston's highest value area) would a normal house cost nearly that much, though you'd be coming very close to that $500k limit on some streets.

You could go higher, but a four bedroom SFH in good shape in Westboro would run in the $650,000 to $800,000 range. It's not mansion territory.

[Trevor3]

Stephenville is economically stable as the service centre for the southwest coast, and see's a lot money flowing in from the Alberta Oil Patch in the form of either A) commuting workers, or B) retirees coming home.

An average 3 bedroom home in a desirable neighbourhood will run around $320,000 - $350,000, like this one in a newer development listed at $349k:


Corner Brook is a bit cheaper but by and large the same. It was the only "urban" centre in the province to see a population decline in the last census, despite being the largest municipality outside the St. John's Metro area.

This 5 bedroom, 3900 sq. ft. home in a neighbourhood equivalent to the one in S'ville above is just $329,500:


Above this price point, homes jump to in excess of $400k for new construction in an established neighbourhood close to parks and 4 bedrooms.

Basically, the top end of the spectrum is very affordable to those fortunate enough to avail of it. If you have money you can get a home here on a "dime" compared to what you would elsewhere. Getting into the market at the low end is sketchy though, you need to spend at least $150,000 to get something respectable and it will most definitely need work, have issues, etc...

[Pinion]

In the City of North Van I've noticed a pretty easy to predict pricing scheme:

The absolute worst 40+ year old 600 sq feet wood frame condos start at $200,000.

New wood frame condos start at $300,000.

Concrete high rise condos start at $400,000.

Townhouses start at $500,000.

Single family homes are rare and not even imaginable for my wife and I despite no kids and $80,000 income, but probably start at $1,000,000, which is still at least $500,000 cheaper than surrounding neighbourhoods.

[ACT7]

Originally Posted by craneSpotter

The benchmark housing price of 628k for Vancouver is for all housing types, including condos and town homes. Although note that Greater Vancouver stats don't include large parts of Metro Vancouver such as Surrey, Delta or Langley, they are covered by the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board stats.

It's strange that the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board covers Whistler but not Surrey. But this is also why these types of city by city comparisons can be tricky. The TREB includes regions as far as Clarington, Innisfil, and New Tecumseth. Obviously, the further out you go, the more the benchmark (and average) gets pulled down - typically, anyway.

And you're right, that at least for the REBGV and TREB, the benchmark includes ALL property types, whereas I'm not sure what it includes for Calgary. Although, the vast majority of property types in Calgary are likely SFD homes, whereas Toronto and Vancouver have a much higher proportion of multi-familly dwellings.

It's also worth noting what kind of home the 'benchmark' actually gets you. The benchmark may be between $512K and $628K in Toronto and Vancouver, but that will likely not get you a SFD, only a townhouse, semi, or condo.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by lio45

Agreed, but don't forget that a big part of the reason behind the price gap is that the $200k house will cost its owner a LOT more money every year in recurring costs (heating, insurance, maintenance, etc.)

"Undesirability" and "high recurring costs" will both drive a given house's price down, but they're completely different factors.

Very true. Most major insurers are unwilling to provide policies to homeowners in the rowhouse districts of St. John's (wooden attached homes with black tar roofs and oil furnaces in the basement are a bit of a fire hazard). It was quite a struggle for me to find one.

Property taxes are also higher in St. John's than its separate suburban municipalities. There's also the perception (which, in the case of Mount Pearl is actually accurate) that the suburbs do a better job of providing municipal services.

But that'll all flip around eventually, once the suburbs have to actually pay to replace their low-density infrastructure. They'll come begging to amalgamate then and we'll be the ones saying "Fuck off."