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As a potential first time home buyer, I'm considering moving to the States just so I can actually buy a place without being house poor. Not only would I be able to buy a house for half the price, but my salary would go up as well. Why haven't I moved already, you ask? INLAWS! ...Ha ha, no, they aren't that bad, but they do lend themselves as good scapegoats.
When I was born the average house in Canada was just over $50,000 vs. $70,000 in the USA. Today, the average price in Canada is over $350,000 verses $150,000 in the USA. Why are houses so much more expensive in Canada today compared to years past, and is this trend sustainable in the long run?
Canadian cities are, mostly, far more compact than US cities due to the development policies of the government forces in Canada that want to provide for manageable roads, good transit and highly regulated lifestyle. In the US there are far fewer restrictions and LOTS MORE cheap places to live.
Frankly I love Canada and if I could figure out a way to move to someplace like Toronto and afford the high cost of living I would...
The trade offs coming down across the border are pretty hard to over come -- depending on your skills / career ambitions you almost certainly have better balance in Canada.
Realtor.ca pulls up some very nice looking houses in NS, NB and PEI for well under $100,000. Fancy living in Atlantic Canada instead of the west coast?
Right. I'm originally from So. CA and where I was from, you couldn't buy a hallway for $100,000.
Ditto. I lived in the Boston area for awhile and looked at a condo in Somerville (not even Boston proper). 420k for a 750 sq ft 1 bedroom loft condo. That's one of the reasons why I moved away
It's because of the concentration of the population in just a few cities. I grew up outside of Toronto and my childhood colonial home which granted is pretty but nothing all that special is currently on the market for 1.6mil. I think my parents paid a couple hundred thousand for it in the late 80s.
Anyway if our entire population in the US lived outside of NYC, San Francisco, LA, and Chicago, the house prices would probably beat Canada's.
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