Brantford, Ontario is now the best city to buy real estate in Canada.
How did this Southern Ontario city, more than 100 kilometres away from Toronto's downtown core get awarded this distinction? (Added of course to its distinction of Telephone City, as it was here in 1874 where Alexander Graham Bell first conceived the idea for the telephone.)
According to MoneySense's "Where To Buy Now" report, Brantford is the best place to buy real estate from Canada’s 35 major urban centres for several reasons. But the biggest reason: its economy.
Part of the Greater Golden Horseshoe, Brantford's diverse economy is thriving. It has a plant operated by Tic Tac and Nutella-maker Ferrero that has become so important to the city's economy, that it hosts a World Nutella Day celebration every February.
Brantford's first-place ranking sees its average 2017 home price at $506,016, average five-year rent increase at $887, average income-to-home price ratio at 5.88 and five-year annual ROI at 4.48 per cent.
Toronto ranked 19, (just behind Winnipeg and just ahead of Moncton) with average 2017 home price at $1,020,375, average five-year rent increase $1,195, average income-to-home price ratio 9.14 and five-year annual ROI at 8.7 per cent.
Included in MoneySense's report, two other Greater Golden Horseshoe cities made this year’s top five: Peterborough (up to second from last year's ninth-place finish) and Guelph (which fell from its 2017 first-place spot to fourth this year).
