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The Maritimes have some lovely homes for not very much money. This Nova Scotian home is pretty good, and could be great wit a bit of work. Lots of land as well.
The Maritimes have some lovely homes for not very much money. This Nova Scotian home is pretty good, and could be great wit a bit of work. Lots of land as well.
Depends on the area in the Maritimes. The South shore of NS, where Halifax and Lunenberg are located, is NOT cheap by any means.
Those homes you posted are in the Yarmouth/Digby areas of Nova Scotia, where, yes, it is pretty affordable. Gorgeous area, but there are almost no jobs, and addictions of all kinds are rampant.
My good friend's sister and her husband sold their very modest home in a very modest part of Hamilton, ON about 4 years ago and moved to Plympton/Digby. Their house in Hamilton sold for about 450k, so they were able to pay cash for an old farmhouse in Plympton (turns out it had been the local drug lord's house). Neither can find decent jobs (they're both too young to retire), and they quickly closed a store they opened due to a lack of business.
They thought they were going to love living there, but I think they're already having doubts about staying long-term. Problem is, they can't afford to go back to Southern Ontario, but where else in Canada can they afford to buy a house?
Last edited by newdixiegirl; 06-12-2020 at 07:07 PM..
I look at a place like St. Catharines which isn’t exactly “booming” and 100km away from Toronto. In 30 years the St. Catharines-Niagara region has maybe grown 10-15% in population.
Here’s a house in a neighbourhood that I know extremely well, that probably sold for $25K in 1967, and would have sold for around $100-125K in the late 90’s. It’s listed for $465K. 3/2 and 1122 sq ft with a carport.
$414 a square foot is extremely expensive. By way of comparison, I paid around $100 a square foot for my current home (resale, 18 years old when I bought it), and $300 a sq ft for my previous home which was new construction in a golf community in Naples, Florida.
That kind of price for that kind of home in that kind of town is typical for Canada, especially Southern Ontario.
It's very hard to figure out. I don't understand the economics behind housing prices in Canada, because salaries (professional salaries in particular) aren't higher in Canada. And good jobs certainly aren't more plentiful.
But, as a Canadian, I understand the culture behind the housing market in Canada, because there IS a strong cultural element to it. There is a good reason why so many real estate/home improvement shows on TV are Canadian. As my immigrant dad always said, if home ownership is the American Dream, it's the Canadian obsession. He was absolutely right.
Owning a home is closely tied to one's self and public identities, and in Southern Ontario at least, there is major pressure to buy a first home even as a 20-something. Because if you don't buy now, when the heck are you going to be able to afford to? And there is a certain level of keeping-up-with-the-Joneses at play.
I know the area around Sherbrooke, QC is pretty affordable for North American standards. You have to be able to speak and understand French there however.
Depends on the area in the Maritimes. The South shore of NS, where Halifax and Lunenberg are located, is NOT cheap by any means.
Those homes you posted are in the Yarmouth/Digby areas of Nova Scotia, where, yes, it is pretty affordable. Gorgeous area, but there are almost no jobs, and addictions of all kinds are rampant.
My good friend's sister and her husband sold their very modest home in a very modest part of Hamilton, ON about 4 years ago and moved to Plympton/Digby. Their house in Hamilton sold for about 450k, so they were able to pay cash for an old farmhouse in Plympton (turns out it had been the local drug lord's house). Neither can find decent jobs (they're both too young to retire), and they quickly closed a store they opened due to a lack of business.
They thought they were going to love living there, but I think they're already having doubts about staying long-term. Problem is, they can't afford to go back to Southern Ontario, but where else in Canada can they afford to buy a house?
Of course housing prices are going to be higher in more desirable areas, plus people do have to live near where they work. However many people aren't interested in SFH because of the time needed to look after them. Most couples are too busy these days.
I guess it depends where in southern Ontario and what kind of home they want, but places like Chatham still seem affordable.
That kind of price for that kind of home in that kind of town is typical for Canada, especially Southern Ontario.
It's very hard to figure out. I don't understand the economics behind housing prices in Canada, because salaries (professional salaries in particular) aren't higher in Canada. And good jobs certainly aren't more plentiful.
But, as a Canadian, I understand the culture behind the housing market in Canada, because there IS a strong cultural element to it. There is a good reason why so many real estate/home improvement shows on TV are Canadian. As my immigrant dad always said, if home ownership is the American Dream, it's the Canadian obsession. He was absolutely right.
Owning a home is closely tied to one's self and public identities, and in Southern Ontario at least, there is major pressure to buy a first home even as a 20-something. Because if you don't buy now, when the heck are you going to be able to afford to? And there is a certain level of keeping-up-with-the-Joneses at play.
I would assume demand and higher costs of materials to build. The differences can't be that huge since the lifestyle of the middle-class in Canada and the US is similar, with Canada's middle-class under less threat than in the US.
What's interesting though, is that Canada has higher home ownership, and much less delinquency on mortgages. Perhaps because the banks here have historically have been follow a strict formula on who is eligible for a mortgage.
"The mortgage delinquency rate in Canada has been very low for a long time. The authors reported a mortgage delinquency rate of about 0.1 per cent from their data. They also referred to data from the Canadian Bankers Association, which showed that since 2005, the mortgage delinquency rate in Canada has not exceeded 0.5 per cent."
I would assume demand and higher costs of materials to build. The differences can't be that huge since the lifestyle of the middle-class in Canada and the US is similar, with Canada's middle-class under less threat than in the US.
What's interesting though, is that Canada has higher home ownership, andmuch less delinquencyon mortgages. Perhaps because the banks here have historically have been follow a strict formula on who is eligible for a mortgage.
"The mortgage delinquency rate in Canada has been very low for a long time. The authors reported a mortgage delinquency rate of about 0.1 per cent from their data. They also referred to data from the Canadian Bankers Association, which showed that since 2005, the mortgage delinquency rate in Canada has not exceeded 0.5 per cent."
And much less of all other kinds of delinquencies as well.
But cost of living is ridiculous indeed. We looked into moving to Canada not that long ago but decided against it because of the cold and the costs of living. There are youtube channels of some Europeans living in Canada and they confirmed what we found out as well: Canada is much more expensive in pretty much everything except fuel, salaries are not higher, sometimes lower even, and it really is cold.
And much less of all other kinds of delinquencies as well.
But cost of living is ridiculous indeed. We looked into moving to Canada not that long ago but decided against it because of the cold and the costs of living. There are youtube channels of some Europeans living in Canada and they confirmed what we found out as well: Canada is much more expensive in pretty much everything except fuel, salaries are not higher, sometimes lower even, and it really is cold.
Where you live, the weather is much the same as where I live.
One has to weigh all considerations when moving countries. Canada can't be doing that badly if it's always rated highly in standard of living and quality of life.
I'v been to The Netherlands many times. I wouldn't say my friends there, have better lives than me, or better weather, or higher standard of living.
I noticed a long time ago, that Canada's average citizens don't seem to have much disposable income. I assumed it partly had to do with the tax structure. But a lot has changed in the US since then. Middle Americans don't have much disposable income anymore.
The BOLD surprises me because I have met Canadians on all my cruises. Got to have disposable money to be repeat cruisers on lengthy and to desirable destinations. They seemed pretty average to me. I also have relatives in Mississauga and Oshawa who are longtime homeowners.
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