Real estate in Ontario: +29.9% on prices despite Covid-19 crisis

alexandre-desoutter-profile-picture
Alexandre Desoutter updated on 26 August 2022

verified information

verificator-profile-picture-profile-picture

Information verified by  Adeline Harmant

Our articles are written by experts in their fields (finance, trading, insurance etc.) whose signatures you will see at the beginning and at the end of each article. They are also systematically reviewed and corrected before each publication, and updated regularly.

Discover the methodology

selectedCity.name

title.change_rate

selectedCity.change_rate

title['2019']

selectedCity['2019']

title['2020']

selectedCity['2020']

A 29,9% increase in real estate in Ontario

29.9%

...is the increase in real estate prices in Ontario from March 2020 to March 2021

47.7%

...is the highest increase rate registered in Ontario (in the Windsor Essex area)

$1.1 M

...is the average price for a real estate transaction in September 2020 in the city of Toronto

Despite an unprecedented economic crisis due to Covid-19 pandemic, Ontario's housing market is not slowing down. Ontario's real estate prices increased faster between March 2020 and March 2021 than in British Colombia (29.9% vs 20.2%) - which proves Ontario's housing market dynamism despite the gloomy circumstances of the Covid-19. Some reasons can be put forward:

  • Demand has accumulated during lockdown, while transactions were blocked
  • Ultra-low interest rates

What are the 10 most expensive cities in Ontario for real estate?

Here below are ten cities where real estate prices are the highest in Ontario. Without surprise, we can observe that the great majority of them (except Ottawa) are located near Greater Toronto:



Ottawa, the second largest city, but far and away in the ranking of most expensive cities

It can be surprising that as the capital and the second largest cities in Ontario, Ottawa is far away after the others cities in the province for the average price of real estate. Indeed, the average price in Ottawa in March 2021 is about $611,900 when the one in Toronto exceed $1 million !

Despite that, Ottawa had a great and fast increase of the real estate between March 2020 and March 2021 : 29,1%. How can we explain such a huge increase and an average price really low in comparaison with the other cities in Ontario ?

Real estate prices increase in Ontario per county: overview

The crisis seems not to have stopped the dynamism of the market. On the contrary. The real estate market is in better shape than ever, with ever-increasing prices all around Ontario. There some examples :

OntarioMarch 2020March 2021Change
Cambridge
$552,800$737,400+33,4%
Barrie & district
$524,600$713,500+36%
Lakelands
$375,700$532,700+41.8%
Northumberland Hills
$456,100$627,400+37.6%
Kingston & Area
$424,586$577,974+36.1%
Niagara region
$452,400$620,700+37.2%
Brantford & region
$431,200$594,900+38.0%
PeterBorough
$435,100$565,500+30.0%
Kawartha Lakes
$404,300$553,400+36.9%
London St Thomas
$415,600$566,000+36.2%
Woodstock-Ingersoll
$387,000$561,600+45.1%
Simcoe & district
$382,500$521,700+36.4%
Windsor Essex
$352,452$520,618+47.7%
Sarnia lambton
$367,210$492,620+34.2%
Southern Georgian Bay
$420,700$592,500+40.8%
Tillson District
$349,700$496,000+41.8%
Huron Perth
$360,400$483,000+34.0%
Grey Bruce Owen Sound
$324,700$428,900+32.1%
Ontario : Changes in real estate prices from March 2020 to March 2021 (source : CREA)

Where do Ontario’s real estate rank in comparison with other provinces?

Even if Ontario is known to be a fairly expensive area for real estate, it is not the most expensive in Canada when it comes to buying a house. Indeed, as of March 2021, with an average real estate transaction being in average $890,035, Ontario's prices are lower of $55,000 than the average real estate price in British Columbia - which is the most expensive province in Canada.

However, we can see that prices in Ontario are way above the Canadian average - the average cost of a transaction in this province being $174,000 above the national number. In comparison, it is almost twice more expensive to buy a house in Ontario than in Nova Scotia. Obviously, the city of Toronto and its surroundings are responsible for the real estate prices to be so high, concentrating great parts of the province's economy, jobs and population.

RankProvincesAverage price of a real estate (March 2021)
1
British-Columbia$945,936
2
Ontario$890,035
-
Canada Global$716,828
3
Yukon$497,187
4
Alberta$443,000
5
Northwest Territories$438,580
6
Québec$435,516
7
Nova-Scotia$362,988
8
Manitoba$338,458
9
Prince Edward Island$330,121
10
Newfoundland and labrador$282,600
11
Saskatchewan$278,400
12
New-Brunswick$253,870
-
NuvanutNo data
Ranking of Canadian provinces by average price of a real estate transaction (data: CREA)


telechargement

Antoine Fruchard, insurance expert and Chief Director at Hellosafe.ca

While the year 2020 already represents a dark period for Ontario and Canadian economy as a whole, the real estate market seems more than ever a safe haven. Indeed, while lockdowns have forced a majority of citizens to stay at home, an awareness of the importance of having a pleasant home in has been born. In fact, far from falling, transactions continued to increase, in line with previous years. As for property prices, they do not seem to be in crisis, and continue to rise despite the gloomy circumstances of the moment. Thus, there is a good chance that investors will continue to put their money in stone in the years to come.

Our methodology

Please note that the above-mentioned information is accurate at the date it is published. All our studies are based on reliable information sourced from public and privates organization. For further information on our editorial guidelines please click here.

About Hellosafe.ca

Hellosafe.ca is a comparison platform which is shaking up the insurance market – giving you access to the best Canada insurance deals in less than 30 seconds. Hellosafe.ca is supported and financed by Blue, an Insurtech Venture Capital firm. Blue already owns two leaders in the French insurance comparison market. These platforms help more than 10 million people with their insurance every year. We have developed a unique comparison technology that gives access to cover details and quotes without customers having to give their phone number or email address. This engine is the result of four years of hard work.

For all press enquiries, please contact :

new project

Alexandre Desoutter

Communications & PR officer

Did you like this article?
alexandre-desoutter-profile-picture/
Alexandre Desoutter Redactor in chief
hellosafe-logo
hellosafe-logo

Alexandre Desoutter has been working as editor-in-chief and head of press relations at HelloSafe since June 2020. A graduate of Sciences Po Grenoble, he worked as a journalist for several years in French media, and continues to collaborate as a contributor to several publications. In this sense, his role leads him to carry out steering and support work with all HelloSafe editors and contributors so that the editorial line defined by the company is fully respected and declined through the texts published daily on our platforms. As such, Alexandre is responsible for implementing and maintaining the strictest journalistic standards within the HelloSafe editorial staff, in order to guarantee the most accurate, up-to-date information on our platforms and expert as possible. Alexandre has in particular undertaken for two years now the implementation of a system of systematic double-checking of all the articles published within the HelloSafe ecosystem, able to guarantee the highest quality of information.