March 12, 2015

Canada’s best deals for 2015: As ranked by MoneySense magazine and Zoocasa Preferred Agents.

At Zoocasa, we like to say that the right real estate agent makes all the difference. But truth be told, having the right tools at your fingertips goes a long way too.

One tool that’s helped Zoocasa Preferred Agents – and their clients – immeasurably over the last few years is MoneySense magazine’s rating of Canada’s top real estate markets. Each year, MoneySense magazine pours over housing prices and trends to discover where home prices are most likely to keep rising. It applies its ranking system to Canada’s largest cities plus every single neighbourhood in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal, so home buyers can figure out how to find “The Best Deals in Real Estate”.

But it turns out the love goes both ways. When MoneySense’s real estate number crunchers wanted to understand the neighbourhoods they were rating – the quality of life, transit, local schools, where to walk your dog or grab a latte – they turned to Zoocasa because they knew we could recommend a top-notch panel of local real estate experts in Canada’s fastest growing cities and neighbouhoods – and we did.

So what did MoneySense learn from its exhaustive analysis and our panel of Zoocasa Preferred Agents? Here are a few highlights:

• Despite expensive real estate prices, Toronto and Vancouver rank a respectable number 12 and 18, in large part because of high salaries, solid momentum and great employment options. (For the best bang for your buck, no place beats Thunder Bay, Ontario, where home prices remain low and household income is relatively high.)
• While still priced high, Port Moody Centre, BC, near Simon Fraser University, offers buyers a lot more value than perennially expensive Vancouver.
• Not surprisingly, Calgary’s market is largely on hold due to the recent steep drop in oil prices – giving potential buyers the upper hand, at least for now.
• When Torontonians aren’t bemoaning the weather, they’re shaking their heads at high real estate prices. However, MoneySense and Zoocasa Preferred Agents report there are still more than a few diamonds in the rough – neighbourhoods like Pleasant View, Upper Beaches and Regent Park reborn – where homes at half the seven-figure norm are not uncommon.
• We were excited to see that our customers are on the right track when it comes to looking for real estate in the right neighbhourhoods. Toronto’s second hottest neighbourhood, East End Danforth, is also the second highest searched-for neighbourhood on Zoocasa.

So what’s the bottom line? That, despite rocketing real estate prices across the country, deals are waiting to be had. You simply need to know where to look and have a first-rate agent looking out for you.

MoneySense magazine trusted us to recommend the right agents to help them find the Best Deals in Real Estate. If you are looking to find the best deal in your city let one of our live customer service representatives match you with the right agent. Chat with us at Zoocasa.com or call us at 1-866-620-1401.