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While I appreciate the comparisons, a fairer comparison would be to compare expensive Canadian cities to expensive American cities. A nice condo in SF or NYC i
by uberman 5y ago
While I appreciate the comparisons, a fairer comparison would be to compare expensive Canadian cities to expensive American cities.
A nice condo in SF or NYC is also likely to get you that mansion in Georgia.
- hourislate 5y agoI don't think there are any US Cities where the price of a house or condo doubled to tripled during the pandemic. There is no where in NA where the price of a house is rising at approx 2k a week, The average price of a house in Toronto is predicted to rise by 100k this year. It isn't just Toronto anymore, actually Toronto is super affordable. The prices across the province especially in areas outside of Toronto that have been historically low have sky rocketed. King Township average price is like 2.6 million. https://www.zolo.ca/toronto-real-estate/trends https://www.zolo.ca/toronto-real-estate/trends Thank the Federal Gov/BoC for destroying the dream of ownership for millions.
- throwaway1777 5y agoHousing prices did double in most mid tier cities during the pandemic. Just not the big ones like NYC, SF, Seattle which were already sky high.
- uberman 5y agoWhile I don't live in a big city, a neighbor of mine purchased their ranch for 700k pre-pandemic and have just offered it for sale three years later for 1.5 million so price doubling is not exclusive to Canada nor to "big cities". To be fair, you showcase King, but King is a very affluent community and thanks to the 400 running through the middle of King Township, it is a bedroom community even for downtown Toronto. The homes for sale in King tend to be in the 3500 to 5000 sqft range and while they are super expensive, a 5000 sqft house, an hours drive from Manhattan, with a yard would cost as much or more in USD than a house in King for CAD. You say this is a government / bank problem. Should the Feds (CA and/or USA) have kept interest rates high during COVID to keep house prices low?
- powerslacker 5y agoHousing prices doubled for many places on the US.
- vehemenz 5y agoThere is no apples to apples comparison in the first place. Most of Canada is sparsely inhabited or uninhabitable. Unlike the US, there are far fewer places to live besides the major metro areas. SF and NYC are not good comparisons either. Yes, they are expensive and 90%+ of the country could never afford to live there—that part is the same—but Americans have so many more options. There are small- and medium-sized cities all over the US.
- waterlaw 5y agoExactly. Canada does not* have many cities and much of the nation has little to no infrastructure. Even small towns are well >$600k for rundown detached houses here. There's multiple considerations. For example. If you need access to quality healthcare for certain conditions, you'll need be limited in cities you can reside in/near.
- jiveturkey42 5y agoWhat is the difficulty in developing more housing in less populated regions of Canada? Cost of materials, permitting and regulations, uninhabitable climate?
- theluketaylor 5y agoAll of the above, plus labour costs for building, lack of infrastructure, and most importantly, lack of an economy. Even if someone can survive the isolation living in the north requires (and the $7 heads of lettuce) there often isn't many options for earning an income.
- MattGaiser 5y agoNobody wants to live there. Canada has plenty of cheaper places like Calgary and Edmonton and Regina, but few move.
- Tiktaalik 5y agoAll of the above plus add on the fact that much of what seems like "empty land" on map is not actually viable in any way for housing development. British Columbia is absolutely massive but it's all mountain. The places to build are already built upon.