Affordability is a key point of concern for many Canadians, particularly when it comes to housing. The dream of home ownership continues to feel more out of reach, with many not earning enough to even consider purchasing a home. Canada’s benchmark home price of $750,100 sheds light on the difficulty that awaits potential homebuyers.
Prices really escalated in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, as interest rates were historically low and buyers jumped on the opportunity to get into the market. Despite many rate hikes in the last year, prices continue to climb. One of the main reasons prices keep increasing is the lack of homes available – in the last five years, Canada’s months of inventory has dropped by just under two months, from 5.4 to 3.5. But how has this affected affordability?
To find out, Zoocasa analyzed home prices from August 2018 and compared them to August 2023, and broke that down by property type and compared single-family homes, townhouses and condo apartments, to see how much home prices have changed in that time.
Canadians Grapple with Soaring Real Estate Prices from Coast-to-Coast
Across the country, home prices have grown in every city we covered for almost every property type. The greatest increase came in Toronto, where the home price for all property types combined went up by $386,200, from $755,200 to $1,141,400. By extension, it is also the city with the greatest increases in prices for single-family homes, townhouses and apartments, jumping by $469,900, $300,500 and $229,300 respectively. Other cities where home prices rose by over $300,000 are Barrie and District and Hamilton–Burlington, where the composite home price is up by $333,500 and $304,800 respectively.
In the individual property types, and outside of Toronto, Barrie and District and Hamilton-Burlington also have the largest increase in townhouses and condo apartments. Hamilton-Burlington takes townhouses, with a $288,000 jump in the last five years, while Barrie and District takes condo apartments with a price increase of $207,500 there. Victoria has the largest price climb in single-family homes outside of Toronto with a $383,500 climb from $794,900 to $1,178,400.
Home Prices in the Prairies have Remained the Most Affordable
The one outlier to all of this is Edmonton. While the average home price has risen by $21,300, the smallest increase of cities we covered, townhouses and condo apartments showed either no price growth or a decline. Townhouses in Edmonton were priced the same in August this year as they were in 2018, at $236,500. Condo apartments in the city are the only property type on our list where prices fell, with a $22,400 drop from $204,200 to $181,800.
The only other cities where home prices have increased by less than six figures across all property types are Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina and St. John’s. Winnipeg’s composite home price increased by $68,400, Saskatoon’s by $62,300, St John’s by $52,100 and Regina’s by $24,500. The smallest increase across each of those property types was in the condo market in Regina, where the price has only increased by $5,400. While Quebec home prices are also only up by five figures ($96,500), unlike the other four cities, single-family homes shot up by $131,000.
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