It’s no surprise that British Columbia continues to lead the country in home prices, but Century21 Canada reports indicates that increases in the province over the past year have been modest in comparison to what Ontario has experienced.
The annual survey of residential prices per square foot, conducted since 2018, puts Vancouver’s West Side in first place with an average price of $1,421 per square foot for a detached house, up 18 per cent from last year. This compares to a detached home in downtown Montreal, the second-most expensive market, of $1,357 per square foot, up barely one per cent versus last year.
Downtown Vancouver condos are the second most-expensive properties in B.C. at $1,283 per square foot, up six per cent versus last year. The next most expensive market is downtown Toronto, where condos fetched $1,217 a square foot, a 27 per cent increase versus last year.
Virtually every market surveyed in Ontario logged double-digit increases in prices. Condos in Kitchener and Cambridge have logged some of the strongest prices increases in Ontario, at upwards of 66% while those in Guelph and Waterloo have seen prices increase more than 50%. Prices are now approaching $800 a square foot in Kitchener, a dramatic increase that has created a sense of sticker shock.
The differential is something Brian Rushton, chief operating officer with Century 21 Canada, says has driven buyers west in search of cheaper digs. With work-from-home arrangements now mainstream, they’ve been able to take their pick of markets.
The shift has benefited Kelowna, where prices average between $402 and $463 a square foot – cheaper than every Ontario market surveyed except Owen Sound.
“A good handful of people have come in from eastern Canada into Kelowna on that very theme – they were able to do their job wherever they wanted to be. Even though the prices have increased considerably, it’s still a bargain,” Rushton said.
Vancouverites have also been pulling up stakes, not just for the Okanagan but the Fraser Valley.
“The last two, two and a half years, he and his people have just sat there and caught people falling into their laps,” Rushton says of the Century 21 broker in Chilliwack.
Chilliwack prices averaged $425 to $515 a square foot in the survey, an increase of approximately 30 per cent over the past year.
The surge in condo prices across the country is not entirely explained by buyers accepting less space for a more manageable price. In many cases, especially in Ontario, recent increases have pushed condo pricing beyond that of single-family homes.
“I’m not sure, when you look at some of the subdivisions in various parts of the country, that there’s been any significant downsizing in square footage. We’ve been accustomed to having all the bells and whistles,” Rushton said.
According to the most recent Statistics Canada data, based on 2017 data, the average detached home in Ontario is 2,380 square feet while the average condo is 665 square feet. But in B.C., detached homes are smaller at 1,900 square feet while condos are larger at 775 square feet.
However, the size of both housing types has been dropping in B.C. as builders wrestle with proformas.
This underscores that many buyers are weighing factors such as location, convenience and amenities into their purchase decisions rather than size.
While rising interest rates had yet to have an impact during the survey period, which covered the first six months of the year, Rushton expects a change.
“Builders have pretty much stopped anything on spec at the moment,” he says. “It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the second half. I don’t think anyone really has a crystal ball on this.”
