# Canadian real estate



## xoa (15 February 2008)

A few low-end Canadian houses.. it really puts our prices in perspective.


----------



## So_Cynical (15 February 2008)

Why so cheap...?

Climate

Due to its location in the centre of the North American continent, Manitoba has a very *extreme climate*. 
In general, temperatures and precipitation decrease from south to north, and precipitation also decreases 
from east to west. As Manitoba is far removed from the moderating influences of both mountain ranges 
and large bodies of water *all of Manitoba's large lakes freeze during the winter months.*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dauphin,_Manitoba
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manitoba

Temperature (Seasonal Averages)
January (winter season) -13
April (spring season) 10
July (summer season) 26
October (autumn season) 11
Average number of frost free days per year 115 :sheep:


----------



## Julia (15 February 2008)

I have a friend who has an apartment in Vancouver, walking distance to CBD in good area.  It is only one bedroom/ground floor, small terrace.   She paid $350,000 8 years ago and two years ago discovered that because of sinking foundations (apparently a problem common to Vancouver) the building will have to be demolished.  Obviously she can't sell it, and her best hope is her share of what a developer will pay for the building.  Equally obviously, that won't be much as the apartment owners don't have a whole lot of choice.


----------



## xoa (15 February 2008)

Julia said:


> I have a friend who has an apartment in Vancouver, walking distance to CBD in good area.  It is only one bedroom/ground floor, small terrace.   She paid $350,000 8 years ago and two years ago discovered that because of sinking foundations (apparently a problem common to Vancouver) the building will have to be demolished.




Looks like your friend got scammed.

Here are the median house prices in a few Canadian cities:
Quebec:          $171,824 	
Montreal:   	 $233,424
Thunder Bay:   $124,643
Winnipeg:  	$174,942


----------



## Julia (15 February 2008)

xoa said:


> Looks like your friend got scammed.
> 
> Here are the median house prices in a few Canadian cities:
> Quebec:          $171,824
> ...



Yes, I think she's feeling somewhat less than happy.
However, you haven't included Vancouver in your prices.

Here's an article about Vancouver prices;
http://www.canada.com/topics/lifest...=3550062f-304c-4540-9ce0-3478601adbc0&k=49935

Extract from above article:
"Average single family house in 2006 - $705,000."

And don't forget median prices include property on the outskirts of the city.
She is in a prime position which makes a big difference.


----------



## xoa (15 February 2008)

Julia said:


> Yes, I think she's feeling somewhat less than happy.
> However, you haven't included Vancouver in your prices.
> 
> Here's an article about Vancouver prices;
> ...




So there's a single overpriced city in Canada, which shows signs of correcting. Better than having every single city overpriced as is the situation here.


----------



## So_Cynical (15 February 2008)

Alot of Hong Kong Chinese in Vancouver...and the weather is better.:bandit:


----------



## Tom Ronalds (16 February 2008)

Vancouver has an affordability index of 8.4. It is thus the second most expensive place in Canada, after Kelowna at 8.5 (wherever that may be).

This puts it behind Mandurah in Western Australia (9.5), Sunshine Coast (9.3), Gold Coast (8.6) and Sydney (8.6).

With regards to houses in Manitoba being cheap because of the climate: One could argue the same about Darwin (NT),  where nonetheless the affordability index sits at 5.9.

Not sure about Manitoba, but Winnipeg, which I believe has similar climate, has a housing affordability of 2.7. So it would seem that theory does not hold.

Tom R.


----------



## So_Cynical (16 February 2008)

Tom Ronalds said:


> With regards to houses in Manitoba being cheap because of the climate: One could argue the same about Darwin (NT),  where nonetheless the affordability index sits at 5.9.



Of course climate and location influences price...compare an average house in 
Burwood to an average house in Broken Hill.

U do realize manitoba is under a meter of snow for 5 months of the year!

Broken Hill $210,000
http://www.domain.com.au/Public/PropertyDetails.aspx?adid=2006971020

Burwood $829,000
http://www.domain.com.au/Public/PropertyDetails.aspx?adid=2006946422


----------



## xoa (16 February 2008)

It's useless to take the average temperature of a region as large as Manitoba - which stretches from the US border (which is where residents live) to the arctic circle.

It's like taking an average of Western Australia, and saying that it's impossible for anybody to live in Perth or Broome.


----------



## So_Cynical (16 February 2008)

xoa said:


> It's useless to take the average temperature of a region as large as Manitoba - which stretches from the US border (which is where residents live) to the arctic circle.
> 
> It's like taking an average of Western Australia, and saying that it's impossible for anybody to live in Perth or Broome.




LOL Latitude is oh so relevant, WA is all between 13° & 37° South, all Temperate/warm to Tropical/hot. 

The world is roughly broken up into 3 zones


 Tropical/hot - between the tropics of Capricorn and Cancer 23° Nth & Sth 
 Temperate/warm - between 23° Nth & Sth to 50° Nth & Sth 
 Cool/cold - Above and Below 50° Nth & Sth  

Manitoba is all above 50 North...therefore all cold to frozen...yes i know theres 
a summer there, they have summer in Antarctica too.:frosty:

http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-maps/image/world-lat-long.jpg


----------



## xoa (16 February 2008)

So_Cynical said:


> Manitoba is all above 50 North...therefore all cold to frozen...yes i know theres
> a summer there, they have summer in Antarctica too.:frosty:
> 
> http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-maps/image/world-lat-long.jpg




Actually, most of Manitoba's cities are south of 50°. But we'd better evacuate the millions of Canadians living north of 50°. Can't have them living in Antarctica.

Same with Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, London too, these cities are all above 50° north. Not to mention Stockholm, Oslo or Copenhagen. It's all cold to frozen. No investment opportunities here folks.


----------



## Doris (17 February 2008)

Tom Ronalds said:


> Vancouver has an affordability index of 8.4. It is thus the second most expensive place in Canada, after Kelowna at 8.5 (wherever that may be).
> 
> This puts it behind Mandurah in Western Australia (9.5), Sunshine Coast (9.3), Gold Coast (8.6) and Sydney (8.6).
> 
> ...




Hey Tom R

*Kelowna is 'the Gold Coast' of BC* (British Columbia)...A city of motels and hotels for tourists. It's in the beautiful lakes area to the north-east of Vancouver. A jet goes over every 3-5 minutes *in summer* as people come to holiday.   It reminded me of Las Vegas with its high air traffic. I could only walk into the lake up to my knees as the water was, to me, freezing!  Thousands of others swam without a qualm!

*Dauphin* is just a little north-west of Winnipeg (the capital of Manitoba) near a lake. A lot of folk in Winnipeg have a house near/on the lakes for summer use. So maybe lack of employment opportunities is the reason for real estate being so cheap there?  I have friends in Winnipeg who live in a condo that has an elevator down to shops and offices below.  It's an *underground life* for them in winter and they don't have to venture out into the cold. I visited for a week one summer and it was 35*C and dry and yet warm to me whilst everyone preferred to be inside with their climate control.  Only the cook on the BBQ was out on the deck!  

It's reminiscent of the 'Plus 15's in Calgary... (Alberta province...to the east beside BC)

View the Plus 15 Downtown Map PDF File (870 KB) http://www.calgary.ca/docgallery/BU/engineering_services/emaps/plus_15_network_map.pdf 

The "Plus 15" walkway system is a series of 57 enclosed bridges at approximately 15 feet above street level that connect a majority of the buildings in the Calgary downtown core. This 16-km system provides protection from the elements and allows pedestrians to travel from building to building, block to block often without having to walk outside.


----------



## Tysonboss1 (17 February 2008)

xoa said:


> A few low-end Canadian houses.. it really puts our prices in perspective.






You can find cheap houses in any country,..

http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bi...&t=res&u=BROKEN+HILL&pme=any&is=1&pxe=any&o=p

Check the link above, for some from australia


----------



## xoa (17 February 2008)

Tysonboss1 said:


> You can find cheap houses in any country,..
> 
> http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bi...&t=res&u=BROKEN+HILL&pme=any&is=1&pxe=any&o=p
> 
> Check the link above




 

At least the estate agent isn't trying to sugarcoat it too much. That's a job for the "enthusiast renovator" all right. You're basically paying for a little plot of land in a remote and dying country town.

I guess you get what you pay for, when it costs $400,000 less than the average Aussie house.


----------



## So_Cynical (17 February 2008)

xoa said:


> Actually, most of Manitoba's cities are south of 50°. But we'd better evacuate the millions of Canadians living north of 50°. Can't have them living in Antarctica.
> 
> Same with Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, London too, these cities are all above 50° north. Not to mention Stockholm, Oslo or Copenhagen. It's all cold to frozen. No investment opportunities here folks.




MANITOBA
Brandon...........49° 52' N     
Churchill AP......58° 45' N     
Dauphin AP.......51° 6' N     
Flin Flon...........54° 46' N    
The Pas AP.......53° 58' N    
Winnipeg AP......49° 54' N

Lets not get to exited about less than half a degree of latitude  

The Northern part of Western Europe is only considered somewhat temperate because of 
the Gulf stream...large body's of water hold heat better than land so theres a transfer of 
heat from the water...gulf stream stops, Euro Freezes.


----------



## klburrell (14 October 2011)

xoa said:


> A few low-end Canadian houses.. it really puts our prices in perspective.




Just my opinion, I would skip Canada or even any northern US states for that matter. Anything over here that is above the frost line is aching for a head ache, you can bet yourself you will be sitting there watching your bank accounts dwindle with all the upkeep and problems your going to have. If your looking for investments or even 2nd homes look to the south of the US, all the way across, well skip CA unless you want to lose even more money.  Those are best bets with the least maintenance and the best prices. You can grab deals down there for as low as $20K, most average around $55K, but you can get really nice ones from 75k to 85k and even the small deals will net cash flow $300-$400 a month. Just my 2 cents.


----------

