MovieChat Forums > Property Brothers (2011) Discussion > Avg income in Canada: $67,000, Avg House...

Avg income in Canada: $67,000, Avg House Price: $470,000, soooo

posted 9 years ago by TamPalm
7 replies | jump to latest

Why in hades are the houses on this show priced so high?  I've been watching a marathon today and the average home--not even the newer "can't afford" homes the show, the ones that need the remodel--are averaging approximately $850,000 or so.

Beyond that, a lot of the couples seem young and not very established. I just saw one in which a landscaper and his wife (who I don't think works) live in a small condo and somehow, some way they qualified for a 1.4 million dollar home. W-T-F? How is that possible?

So what gives? Why are the prices on this show so outside of the average for Canada? I am really confused at this.

Where I got the stats:
http://www.livingin-canada.com/house-prices-canada.html
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/famil108a-eng.htm

"If it doesn't make sense, it's not true." -- Judge Judy

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] dehumidifier 9 years ago

This is a comment on an article in the real estate section of the NY Times of 5/15/16. It basically explains the gap. The prices and the wages are higher in Toronto, where these shows are filmed:

"Sadie Kent Toronto 15 hours ago
As a Canadian, I am trying to be sympathetic, but I am struggling. In Canada, as an IT worker, there really is only one place I can reliably find work, and that is Toronto. One city. One city where the average home price is 1.25 million and increasing, and I will never be able to afford a house here. It's also an ugly, traffic clogged city with bad weather. I really would prefer to live elsewhere. Where I grew up would be nice but there are no jobs there. In the US, I could find work in a dozen of lovely, affordable cities. Can't afford to live in New York? Move, and be very thankful that you have that option."

[–] TamPalm 9 years ago

Interesting, but that doesn't address the issue of the income. How do people averaging $67,000 (I'll be generous and increase Toronto's to $100,000 which goes against the research I did, but I digress) afford million dollar homes? That just doesn't compute.

"If it doesn't make sense, it's not true." -- Judge Judy

[–] dehumidifier 9 years ago

Because they have to? I always wonder why they want to be near restaurants when they'll be eating ramen noodles after they buy!

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] tbone382001 8 years ago

I agree Dark, I am in Michigan and for 500,000 I would be living in a mini mansion, lol. I just watched about 10 episodes and almost all of them were looking for homes in the 650,000 to 850,000 range. How do people afford that?
Are they all making dr and lawyer money? Houses that were dumps were 400,000.

[–] john_doe_197579 8 years ago

Places like Toronto and Vancouver are extremely popular; therefore, you have a supply and demand issue; much like NYC and San Francisco. Also, about 75% of Canadians live within 161 kilometers (100 miles) of the US border. As you might imagine, a lot of that land has been built up-again, supply and demand. The further away from the city centres and the more north you go into the tundra it gets less expensive. Calgary and Edmonton are also getting expensive due to the oil industry. Saskatchewan and Manitoba are not as expensive because, well nobody wants to live there. Oddly, Montreal is more affordable than Toronto and Vancouver despite being a major city.
Another thing to factor in is that Canadians largely carry far less household debt than Americans. Houses (mortgages) are Canadians' biggest debts. Americans have mortgages too, but also large student loans, car loans (Americans buy larger, more expensive cars than Canadians) and credit cards. So Canadians can have larger mortgages.
And, as unpopular a comment as this is, Canadians have an immigration problem much like the US. However, unlike the US, Canada gets well educated, wealthy immigrants from China, India and Hong Kong that can buy 1,000,000 + houses like it is nothing. These immigrants are making it more competitive for Canadian-born citizens to purchase houses.
Keep in mind too that this show appears to be geared towards Millennials. Millennials for some reason love to live in cities with "hip" up and coming neighbourhoods. Cities are generally more expensive than suburbs and therefore, the price goes up.
I believe that in all Western, First World countries, the dream of home ownership is dwindling as it has become too expensive; Canada is not immune to this.