Some people think the real estate market is overheated in Canada. I don’t. The market is unbalanced. There has been a major shift in the Canadian economy and just like K-W has higher that average unemployment, companies like RIM and Open Text and a bevy of others can’t find the talent they need to fill the 4000 job postings they’ll have this year. The shift is too big demographically to pin down to one thing or the other.
We know that the house prices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Vancouver and Toronto have risen recently by double digits, but there are relatively cheap places to buy real estate in Canada too. They include:
Anywhere in New Brunswick the average house price is about $155,000, except for St John and Fredericton where the average price is around $169,000. The economy is good. The air is fresh and clean.
In Cape Breton, Nova Scotia the average house price is under $100,000. There are no jobs but if you can’t afford to retire to BC (who can?) this is a great option.
The automotive industry packed up and left Windsor. It’s now a bleak and empty wasteland, windswept, ugly and dangerous. I’ll be there next weekend for the soccer season kickoff cup. The average listing is about $165,000. It’s got the University of Windsor and the best weather in Ontario but any real estate investment here would have to be very long term.
Gatineau Quebec (formerly Hull) is a city I’ve seen many times after hours when I was a student at Carleton University and once or twice on a Sunday when the beer stores in Ontario didn’t open on Sundays. Remember that? The averaged house in Gatineau goes for less than $100,000.
Charlottetown PEI is nice, especially now that you don’t have to wait for the damn ferry. Homes are selling at about $190,000 here. If you like potatoes, Ann of Green Gables and tourists, this would be a great place to buy real estate.
I love potatoes – and I can’t put down Anne of Green Gables, after all, she is a fellow ginger! hmmm Maybe PEI is looking better after all!