Top three affordable regions in Canada where homes go for below $300,000
In an increasingly complex world, the Financial Post should be the first place you look for answers. Our FP Answers initiative puts readers in the driver’s seat: you submit questions and our reporters find answers not just for you, but for all our readers. Today, we answer a question from Brian about real estate.
Canadian real estate has soared in value since 2020, with the pandemic, low interest rates and fear of missing out (FOMO) propelling home prices to record levels and pricing many potential home buyers out of the market.
Although the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) reported home sales fell by 5.6 per cent in June from the month before, the national average home price was only down 1.8 per cent to $665,580 from the same month last year, despite rising interest rates and tighter borrowing conditions today.
Elevated prices in Toronto and Vancouver continue to drive the high national average, but many smaller neighbouring cities offer more affordable prices. You can still find value in real estate if you know exactly where to look.
Zoocasa Realty Inc. analyzed 25 regional housing markets and ranked every market by its annual rate of growth in average home prices. The online broker then determined where the average price stood compared to the national average, and identified the 10 most affordable regions and homes you can buy there.
The Saguenay, Que., region tops the list for most affordable housing, with an average home price of $267,353 and annual price growth of 6.6 per cent from last June. Newfoundland and Labrador, where the average regional home price is $280,200 with an annual growth of 10.8 per cent , came second. Saint John, N.B., holds third spot, with an average home cost of $294,900 and an annual growth rate of 30.1 per cent.
Zoocasa spokesperson Patti Cosgarea said she was surprised by how many markets are below the national average. Canadians should continue to see prices decline as the Bank of Canada raises rates.
Some people may choose to wait on the sidelines as the market slows in the face of rising rates, CREA chair Jill Oudil said in the association’s June statistics report.
But should potential home buyers wait for prices to drop even further in case a dramatic decline in the housing market plays out?
Not according to Prof. Jill Grant who researches housing and cities at Dalhousie University’s School of Planning in Halifax. Grant predicts that housing will not return to pre-pandemic levels soon because of a lack of supply.
Canadians are forming more households as families get smaller and more people live alone, and housing supply in Canada has not kept up with that demand, Grant said.
No one can predict how high interest rates may rise nor the resulting decline in home prices. But since prices have fallen from their February highs, and supply remains tight, now may be as good a time as any to buy a new home.
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TORONTO – One expert predicts Ottawa‘s changes to mortgage rules will help spur demand among potential homebuyers but says policies aimed at driving new supply are needed to address the “core issues” facing the market.
The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal calls it a “significant” move likely to accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.
However, he says in a note that policymakers should aim to “prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing” through policies geared toward the supply side.
Tal says the main issue is the lack of supply available to respond to Canada’s rapidly increasing population, particularly in major cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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