Canadian Press Published Wednesday, April 20, 2022, 5:25 AM EDT Last Updated Wednesday, April 20, 2022, 5:25 AM EDT
CALGARI – As Ontario’s booming real estate market puts home ownership out of reach for many Canadians, more and more prospective buyers are looking west in hopes of achieving their white fence dreams.
Like newlyweds Vineet Mrug and Kushbu Mistry, who moved to Calgary from their hometown of Toronto last year, some residents of GTA and other Ontario hot markets are moving to Alberta for what they see as their last chance to have an affordable property in a big canadian city.
“We had fun with the idea (to stay in Toronto), but it was very short-lived, just because of the net cost of housing,” Mrug said, adding that he and his wife made the move with the intention of starting a family soon.
“In Ontario, especially Toronto, we were limited to a two-bedroom apartment within our budget. And that really wouldn’t help us with the plans we had. “
Mrug and Mistry eventually bought a 250-square-foot home with a walking basement and a large backyard in Calgary’s northwestern neighborhood, Valley Ridge.
“We got three times as much house for the same amount of money,” Mrug said. “We are very pleased with our decision.”
The experience of Mrug and Mistry is not unique. A quick look at online housing forums like Reddit shows dozens of recent inquiries from GTA residents asking about weather, travel time and popular neighborhoods in Alberta’s cities, especially Calgary.
Real estate brokers in the western province are also buzzing with anecdotes about what they say is an unusually large number of inquiries from Ontario. These stories seem to be supported by Statistics Canada, which shows that Alberta led the country in inter-provincial migration in the fourth quarter of 2021, for the first time since 2015. On a net basis, most of Alberta’s new inter-provincial migrants in the fourth quarter comes from Ontario.
“We are beginning to see this migration based on accessibility,” said Don Cotick, president and CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada. “I think we see part of this, led by the old FOMO, the fear of not missing out. People will look for where you can still afford a house. ”
The reference price for detached housing in Calgary rose to $ 620,500 in March, more than $ 73,000 higher than in December and 20 percent higher than last year. Many homes receive multiple offers and sell above the asking price.
In the higher market, the increase in activity is even more dramatic. Sales of detached and attached homes in the $ 1 million price range in Calgary rose 71% and 258%, respectively, from the previous year, according to Sotheby’s.
But even as housing prices in Calgary rise, they pale in comparison to what future homebuyers in other parts of the country face. In Toronto, the average selling price in March 2022 was $ 1.3 million, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association, while the combined reference price at Metro Vancouver for the same month was $ 1.4 million.
While the federal government is committed in its latest budget to taking steps to cool Canada’s overheated housing market, for many first-time buyers it’s too little, too late. Data analyst Ryan Sekulic, who has worked in the UK, joined Helcim technology company in Calgary last year after looking at options in both Toronto and Vancouver.
“None of the jobs I’ve seen in Toronto or Vancouver pay enough to justify living in one of those cities,” Sekulic said. “In the end, I wanted to be a homeowner, and now I’m buying one … which would be impossible there.”
Canada’s housing affordability crisis has coincided with Alberta’s recovery from years of recession due to lower oil prices, which may be another reason for Eastern Canadians to look west again. According to the Conference Board of Canada, Alberta is expected to lead the country in economic growth in both 2022 and 2023 due to rising commodity prices. The province is also working to diversify its economy with some success – both Calgary and Edmonton have seen rapid growth in their local technology scene.
Foreign buyers also seem to be attracted by Calgary’s proximity to the Rockies. Holiday homes in Alberta are now the most expensive in all of Canada, ahead of even British Columbia, according to a recent report by Royal LePage Realty. In Canmore, a coveted mountain town 80 kilometers west of Calgary, single-family home prices have risen 33 percent year-on-year to $ 1.36 million.
Although much of that demand is still driven by Western Canadians, local Royal LePage real estate broker Brad Hawker said a growing number of properties in Canmore are being snatched by retirees in Ontario.
“They’re making money from the market (high prices), leaving segments of Ontario and coming here for a combination of more affordable real estate and a different quality of life,” Hawker said, adding that he did not expect rising interest rates to slow this specific trend.
“I honestly don’t see that changing. “Many of these buyers are cash buyers,” Hawker said. “They don’t give a mortgage on the property anyway, so interest rates don’t matter to them.”
Add Comment