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Take away Vancouver and Toronto, and the price of a house in Canada is nowhere near the asking prices currently in those two cities. Wealthy foreign inflation

Take away Vancouver and Toronto, and the price of a house in Canada is nowhere near the asking prices currently in those two cities. Wealthy foreign inflation on Canadian real estate is quite evident.

aianus 10y ago
Take away Toronto and Vancouver and you have nothing but farmland and university towns. Not really evident of anything. Fwiw Toronto is quite affordable still; you can live like a king in a brand new condo with curtain glass walls overlooking the city for under US$500k.
- kejaed 10y ago
  "Take away Toronto and Vancouver and you have nothing but farmland and university towns" Spoken like a true citizen of the Center of the Universe
- throwaway1979 10y ago
  How does 500K USD seen affordable? Also, try raising two kids in that condo.
  - dleslie 10y ago
    I have numerous friends with several children and who live in a condo. Hell, the Mayor of New Westminster moved _out_ of his house and into a condo; he has three daughters. As usual, there's a Vancouver blog for this[0]. 0: http://5kids1condo.com/ http://5kids1condo.com/
  - mahyarm 10y ago
    Have a large condo with 3-5 rooms. Maybe they would share a bedroom!
    - wavefunction 10y ago
      Bathroom - 1 room Parent bedroom - 1 room Kitchen - 1 room Living room - 1 room Kid bedroom - 1 room ..... Sounds lovely, for 500k USD...
  - wmoxam 10y ago
    At that price it'll be a 2 bedroom condo. 3 bedroom condos in the core are rare, and generally start around $800k CAD
- drzaiusapelord 10y ago
  Montreal: 1.65m Calgary: 1.1m Edmonton: 820k Ottawa: 800k The surrounding areas are suburban, not farmland, just like any metro area for most of these cities. Greater Montreal is about 4m people for example. Canada is a whole hell of a lot more than just Vancouver and Toronto. Actually Vancouver is relatively small with its 600k population and greater metro area of only 2.4m. Toronto and Montreal are the real population and economic centers and Vancouver coming in 3rd place. I'm a US citizen and I've been to some of these places. It blows my mind how dismissive people are of Canada. It has more than a little diversity, distinct regions, amazing people, and the population of California and almost its GDP. Its 10th on the GDP scale globally. This isn't some farmland country, its a economic powerhouse.
  - cperciva 10y ago
    Actually Vancouver is relatively small with its 600k population. That's just a coincidence of lines on a map. Vancouver is very much like San Francisco in this respect; unless you're a local, when you say "San Francisco" you're probably including areas like Oakland and Berkeley, and you might be including areas as far out as San Jose.
    - tjl 10y ago
      True, but that's also true for a number of those other cities. Ottawa has both Kanata and Hull for example (and possibly Orleans depending on what you consider Ottawa). My aunt and uncle own a berry farm within a short drive to Ottawa as well so there's a number of small towns around it (within about 30 minutes drive or so). My sister lives in a city right by Montreal, but most people would consider it to be Montreal if you don't live in the area.
      - unfocused 10y ago
        I think you mean: "Ottawa has both Kanata and Orleans for example (and possibly Hull depending on what you consider Ottawa)" NCR, or Nation Capital Region refers to Ottawa + Gatineau (Hull is part of Gatineau) and surrounding areas. [0] However, for those who aren't from Canada, Gatineau is in fact in the Quebec Province, and Ottawa in the Ontario province. They are separated by a river. You can walk over the bridge from Downtown Ottawa to Gatineau in about 5 minutes.[1] In terms of housing prices though, Gatineau and Ottawa are completely different animals. Even inside Ottawa, the range is quite large. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Capital_Region_(Canada)#Ottawa.E2.80.93Gatineau_CMA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Capital_Region_(Canad... [1] Lived in Ottawa most of life, and my partner walks over the bridge every day for work from Ottawa to Gatineau, even in the dead of winter.
- stuxnet79 10y ago
  > Fwiw Toronto is quite affordable still; you can live like a king in a brand new condo with curtain glass walls overlooking the city for under US$500k. Is this sarcasm? USD 500K translates to 660K CAD. Is this supposed to be affordable? I love Toronto but the real estate prices are out of control. They should implement similar measures in Ontario.
  - aianus 10y ago
    This is for a brand new two bedroom in a doorman building with a pool, movie theater, gym, sauna, rooftop terrace, etc. You can't own anything at all at that price in SF or Vancouver. Maybe a shitbox in NYC.
    - allengeorge 10y ago
      As a senior engineer you don't get anywhere close to what you're paid in SF or NYC either. And (sadly) the depth/volume of engineering jobs is a lot poorer.

aianus 10y ago

Take away Toronto and Vancouver and you have nothing but farmland and university towns. Not really evident of anything. Fwiw Toronto is quite affordable still; you can live like a king in a brand new condo with curtain glass walls overlooking the city for under US$500k.

kejaed 10y ago
"Take away Toronto and Vancouver and you have nothing but farmland and university towns" Spoken like a true citizen of the Center of the Universe
throwaway1979 10y ago
How does 500K USD seen affordable? Also, try raising two kids in that condo.
- dleslie 10y ago
  I have numerous friends with several children and who live in a condo. Hell, the Mayor of New Westminster moved _out_ of his house and into a condo; he has three daughters. As usual, there's a Vancouver blog for this[0]. 0: http://5kids1condo.com/ http://5kids1condo.com/
- mahyarm 10y ago
  Have a large condo with 3-5 rooms. Maybe they would share a bedroom!
  - wavefunction 10y ago
    Bathroom - 1 room Parent bedroom - 1 room Kitchen - 1 room Living room - 1 room Kid bedroom - 1 room ..... Sounds lovely, for 500k USD...
- wmoxam 10y ago
  At that price it'll be a 2 bedroom condo. 3 bedroom condos in the core are rare, and generally start around $800k CAD
drzaiusapelord 10y ago
Montreal: 1.65m Calgary: 1.1m Edmonton: 820k Ottawa: 800k The surrounding areas are suburban, not farmland, just like any metro area for most of these cities. Greater Montreal is about 4m people for example. Canada is a whole hell of a lot more than just Vancouver and Toronto. Actually Vancouver is relatively small with its 600k population and greater metro area of only 2.4m. Toronto and Montreal are the real population and economic centers and Vancouver coming in 3rd place. I'm a US citizen and I've been to some of these places. It blows my mind how dismissive people are of Canada. It has more than a little diversity, distinct regions, amazing people, and the population of California and almost its GDP. Its 10th on the GDP scale globally. This isn't some farmland country, its a economic powerhouse.
- cperciva 10y ago
  Actually Vancouver is relatively small with its 600k population. That's just a coincidence of lines on a map. Vancouver is very much like San Francisco in this respect; unless you're a local, when you say "San Francisco" you're probably including areas like Oakland and Berkeley, and you might be including areas as far out as San Jose.
  - tjl 10y ago
    True, but that's also true for a number of those other cities. Ottawa has both Kanata and Hull for example (and possibly Orleans depending on what you consider Ottawa). My aunt and uncle own a berry farm within a short drive to Ottawa as well so there's a number of small towns around it (within about 30 minutes drive or so). My sister lives in a city right by Montreal, but most people would consider it to be Montreal if you don't live in the area.
    - unfocused 10y ago
      I think you mean: "Ottawa has both Kanata and Orleans for example (and possibly Hull depending on what you consider Ottawa)" NCR, or Nation Capital Region refers to Ottawa + Gatineau (Hull is part of Gatineau) and surrounding areas. [0] However, for those who aren't from Canada, Gatineau is in fact in the Quebec Province, and Ottawa in the Ontario province. They are separated by a river. You can walk over the bridge from Downtown Ottawa to Gatineau in about 5 minutes.[1] In terms of housing prices though, Gatineau and Ottawa are completely different animals. Even inside Ottawa, the range is quite large. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Capital_Region_(Canada)#Ottawa.E2.80.93Gatineau_CMA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Capital_Region_(Canad... [1] Lived in Ottawa most of life, and my partner walks over the bridge every day for work from Ottawa to Gatineau, even in the dead of winter.
stuxnet79 10y ago
> Fwiw Toronto is quite affordable still; you can live like a king in a brand new condo with curtain glass walls overlooking the city for under US$500k. Is this sarcasm? USD 500K translates to 660K CAD. Is this supposed to be affordable? I love Toronto but the real estate prices are out of control. They should implement similar measures in Ontario.
- aianus 10y ago
  This is for a brand new two bedroom in a doorman building with a pool, movie theater, gym, sauna, rooftop terrace, etc. You can't own anything at all at that price in SF or Vancouver. Maybe a shitbox in NYC.
  - allengeorge 10y ago
    As a senior engineer you don't get anywhere close to what you're paid in SF or NYC either. And (sadly) the depth/volume of engineering jobs is a lot poorer.