Here's what $400k can get you in Toronto real estate vs. other Ontario cities | Canada News Media
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Here’s what $400k can get you in Toronto real estate vs. other Ontario cities

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Toronto will always remain far more expensive to try and buy a home in than elsewhere in Ontario, but the appalling extent to which this is true has been outlined in a new study.

To put the price disparities between GTA cities and cheaper places like Sudbury or Thunder Bay into perspective, listing site Point2Homes looked at what one could get on a budget of $400k across the province — a figure selected to represent what the “typical Ontario homebuyer” might be able to afford.

And, of course, the findings were a punch in the gut to anyone hoping to live in and around T.O.

Noting that the price of the average Ontario home is around $856k — down from an even higher peak of nearly $930k in May — Point2 says that most properties are still “very much out of the financial league of at least half the buyers in Toronto, not to mention the less expensive cities in the province,” even with this year’s slight price drops.

Driving this point home is how much square footage someone with $400k to spend on a home could actually get around the province, starting with a meagre 395 square feet in Toronto.

This would be the size of a smaller micro-condo, if a buyer can even find one available, though even those often start at $500k in the downtown core.

Of course, downtown Toronto has the highest price per square foot in Ontario, with a very low chance of finding any listing for $400k. Chart from Point2Homes.

Listings close to this size in the city currently are going for $450k in the Upper Beaches and $455k in Flemingdon Park (for an even smaller 330 square feet and 339 square feet, respectively), $480k in Moss Park, $460k in Regent Park, and nearly $600k in St. Lawrence.

(There is one listing right around $400k in Birchcliffe-Cliffside, which was only reduced to this price after a lack of interest and numerous terminated listings.)

Moving to less exorbitant locales in Ontario, there are parts of the GTA like Vaughan, Markham, and Richmond Hill, where a $400k budget could buy you a cramped 494, 516 and 546 square feet of space, respectively.

For the same price, you could nab 599 square feet in Mississauga, 640 in Pickering, or 664 in Brampton, the latter of which is finally in “average one-bedroom size” territory.

One can get nearly three times as much space in Thunder Bay as they can in downtown T.O.. Chart from Point2Homes.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have somewhere like Thunder Bay, where you can get three times more space than in Toronto for the same amount of money. In the more northerly community, one could ostensibly get a place with 1,325 square feet of space for $400k.

Chatham-Kent is similarly cheap, with a price of $370 per square foot to downtown Toronto’s $1,013, giving you a 1,081-square-foot home for $400k.

The same can be said for Greater Sudbury ($400 a square foot, or 1,000 square feet of space for $400k), Kingston ($421 a square foot/950 square feet for that price) and London ($425 a square foot/941 square feet), by Point2’s data.

“Even Ottawa — where the average home price is hovering around $600k — offers more than double the space available to the typical Toronto buyer,” the group writes.

“That’s because the price per square foot in the country’s capital is below $500, whereas Toronto stands in a league of its own with an average price per square foot of more than $1k … As long as buyers are willing to stay away from Toronto, they could get much more living space for the same amount.”

They add that “although the benchmark home price in all the cities surrounding Toronto is above $1 million — with Richmond Hill, Vaughan, Markham and Oakville even surpassing Ontario’s most populous and popular city — they all offer more space for $400k than Toronto.”

 

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Greater Toronto home sales jump in October after Bank of Canada rate cuts: board

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TORONTO – The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board says home sales in October surged as buyers continued moving off the sidelines amid lower interest rates.

The board said 6,658 homes changed hands last month in the Greater Toronto Area, up 44.4 per cent compared with 4,611 in the same month last year. Sales were up 14 per cent from September on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The average selling price was up 1.1 per cent compared with a year earlier at $1,135,215. The composite benchmark price, meant to represent the typical home, was down 3.3 per cent year-over-year.

“While we are still early in the Bank of Canada’s rate cutting cycle, it definitely does appear that an increasing number of buyers moved off the sidelines and back into the marketplace in October,” said TRREB president Jennifer Pearce in a news release.

“The positive affordability picture brought about by lower borrowing costs and relatively flat home prices prompted this improvement in market activity.”

The Bank of Canada has slashed its key interest rate four times since June, including a half-percentage point cut on Oct. 23. The rate now stands at 3.75 per cent, down from the high of five per cent that deterred many would-be buyers from the housing market.

New listings last month totalled 15,328, up 4.3 per cent from a year earlier.

In the City of Toronto, there were 2,509 sales last month, a 37.6 per cent jump from October 2023. Throughout the rest of the GTA, home sales rose 48.9 per cent to 4,149.

The sales uptick is encouraging, said Cameron Forbes, general manager and broker for Re/Max Realtron Realty Inc., who added the figures for October were stronger than he anticipated.

“I thought they’d be up for sure, but not necessarily that much,” said Forbes.

“Obviously, the 50 basis points was certainly a great move in the right direction. I just thought it would take more to get things going.”

He said it shows confidence in the market is returning faster than expected, especially among existing homeowners looking for a new property.

“The average consumer who’s employed and may have been able to get some increases in their wages over the last little bit to make up some ground with inflation, I think they’re confident, so they’re looking in the market.

“The conditions are nice because you’ve got a little more time, you’ve got more choice, you’ve got fewer other buyers to compete against.”

All property types saw more sales in October compared with a year ago throughout the GTA.

Townhouses led the surge with 56.8 per cent more sales, followed by detached homes at 46.6 per cent and semi-detached homes at 44 per cent. There were 33.4 per cent more condos that changed hands year-over-year.

“Market conditions did tighten in October, but there is still a lot of inventory and therefore choice for homebuyers,” said TRREB chief market analyst Jason Mercer.

“This choice will keep home price growth moderate over the next few months. However, as inventory is absorbed and home construction continues to lag population growth, selling price growth will accelerate, likely as we move through the spring of 2025.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Homelessness: Tiny home village to open next week in Halifax suburb

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HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.

Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.

Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.

The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.

Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.

They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.

The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.

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Here are some facts about British Columbia’s housing market

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Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.

Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.

Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500

Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438

Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103

Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359

Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent

How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

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