You can buy a lot for $300,000, but according to a new study from real estate portal Point2, you can’t necessarily buy square footage.
In February, the national median home price reached a peak of $816,720, but more recently, that figure has dipped to $637,673.
Still, $637,673 is no small chunk of change, and as Point2 notes ahead of their data, the price point is “more than 10 times the median income” and “still out of reach for many homebuyers.” Bearing that in mind, Point2 dug into how much square footage roughly half of the median price could buy in 43 of Canada’s most populated markets.
Unsurprisingly, Point2 found that $300,000 doesn’t stretch far for most Canadian cities. This was most apparent in Vancouver and downtown Toronto, where $300,000 buys less than 250 sq. ft., translating to more than $1,100 psf.
The price-to-size ratio was a little better in 20 other cities (below, in light pink) and Richmond, BC, where that same budget buys less than 500 sq. ft.
Point2
Point2’s findings weren’t entirely doom and gloom. The study found that a $300,000 budget that would secure a closet-sized dwelling in Toronto and Vancouver would afford more than 1,500 sq. ft in St, John’s, Newfoundland, and Saguenay and Trois- Rivières, Quebec, putting the price in these cities at less than $200 psf.
Point2
Generally speaking, cities in Quebec have a more approachable price-to-space ratio -- more than 1,100 sq. ft for that $300,000 price point -- compared to cities in other provinces. In fact, $300,000 buys a home in Saguenay or Trois-Rivières that’s a staggering six to seven times the size of a home in Downtown Toronto and Vancouver. The few exceptions to Quebec’s general affordability were Montreal and Laval.
While Quebec was the clear frontrunner in terms of affordability, cities in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, and Newfoundland were also considerably more affordable than those in Ontario and BC. In St. John’s, Newfoundland, Regina, Saskatchewan, Edmonton, Alberta, and Winnipeg, Manitoba, $300,000 could buy more than 1,000 sq. ft.
Point2
Additionally, While Ontario and BC, on the whole, were exceedingly more expensive than other Canadian provinces, Windsor, Ontario, and Abbotsford, BC were slightly more affordable, offering $306 and $412 psf respectively.
Provincial differentials aside, prices psf are increasing across the board. Point2 notes that “$300,000 could get you more than 2,000 square feet in Sherbrooke, QC, five years ago. Conversely, today, the same amount would buy only 1,493 square feet in the same city.”
