If you’ve ever thought that the Canadian housing market was hopeless, a TikToker has taken to social media to share just how bleak it really is.
Contra Tenore, @cntrtnr on TikTok, shared a video comparing house prices in Canada and the U.S., and it seems like Canucks are getting totally ripped off.
“To give you an idea of how stupid the Canadian real estate market is….” Tenore captioned the video posted on March 26.
“I don’t think Canadians, or even Americans, or anyone around the world really understands how nuts real estate is in this country,” he says in the clip.
He explains that something he used to do to point this out was to go online and compare what a buyer could get in Los Angeles versus Toronto for about the same amount of money.
“Now I can do that with properties here in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia,” he says, which, at one time, may have been considered a much cheaper place to live than the GTA.
Tenore then shows a listing for a house in Porter Ranch, a neighbourhood in Los Angeles, California that’s supposed to be “one of the greatest places to live” in the state.
The listing, which is for 18784 Clearbrook St., shows a four-bedroom, three-bathroom, 2,436-square-foot home listed for $1,250,000.
“And here’s Dartmouth, Nova Scotia,” he says, showing a listing for a home at 16 Brookdale Cres. He notes that the home is a lakeside property with bigger square footage than the L.A. home.
“However, it’s a two-bedroom, three-bath and it’s a bungalow, and it’s $1.8 million,” he says.
He notes that with the exchange rate, the Nova Scotia house works out to be about the same price as the home in Los Angeles, painting a grim picture of a real estate market where Canadians are paying to live on the East Coast for the same price it costs to live 30 minutes from Beverly Hills and Hollywood.
“So yeah, it’s really bad, it makes no sense,” he concludes.
Commenters on the video were in agreement that house prices in Canada are, well, not great, to say the least.
“Watching Selling Sunset and realizing I could get a huge house in L.A. for $1.4 million or a townhouse in Toronto for the same was my wakeup call,” said one commenter.
“Constantly explaining to my friends that we have like 6 [greater than 1 million] population cities in Canada and they’re all far apart but we all pay city pricing,” said another person.
“‘California is so expensive,’ no, Canada. Canada is expensive,” another commenter added.
While the discrepancy may not put potential Canadian buyers in the best spirits, there may be some hope.
Real estate experts at Zoocasa have said that they are expecting a shift in the Canadian housing market, with an “upswing” in new listings in urban centres, more new listings as investors become sellers and a more “balanced” market for buyers overall.
In short terms, they say that 2023 “should be an ideal time for buyers to come to market.” So, don’t give up on your dream of home ownership just yet!