The Standard Home in Canada Now Costs Twice as Much as in the U.S.!

US Home Loan

Canada’s housing market is hot. Home prices have rocketed 30% since early 2020, and the Canadian Real Estate Association recently reported that the average price of a Canadian home was nine times the average household income. 

It wouldn’t be ridiculous to assume that things might be comparable just across the border to the south in the U.S. In fact, price increases in the U.S. have been only slightly lower, at 27%. Despite this, the standard home in Canada now costs twice as much in the U.S. There is clearly more to the story here.

Canadian Housing Market vs. The U.S. Housing Market

Just how much more expensive is the Canadian market compared to the U.S.? Here’s some perspective. Home prices in both countries have been rising since 2010; however, while disposable income in the U.S. has roughly matched its home prices, Canadian disposable income has become entirely uncoupled from them. 

Disposable income in the U.S. is only about 10% higher than its neighbour to the north, but Canadian home prices are about 75% higher than in the U.S. What this tells us is that despite a surge in the price of real estate in the U.S., it is likely not in a bubble. In contrast, Canadian prices are severed from fundamentals, which should unsettle any would-be investor. 

What if The U.S. Market Was as Hot as Canada’s?

To further put the dramatic difference in perspective, let’s imagine that the U.S. had a comparably hot market. The average median home price in the United States is roughly $375,000. If what’s happening in Canada happened in the U.S., the median home price would jump to around $656,000.

That’s just the median. Expensive coastal real estate markets likely wouldn’t see an increase of 75%, but it’s possible that they would jump by double-digit percentages. 

Most Affordable Countries in the World

The U.S. real estate isn’t just more affordable than Canada’s, it’s the second most affordable country in the world, according to data from Numbeo, Canada is the 17th. The report takes income, gross rental yield, price-to-rent, and international mortgage as a percentage of income into account when ranking each country. 

According to the data, the average Canadian spends a whopping 49.62% of their income on their mortgage. 

Investing in Real Estate in the U.S. 

Canadians are buying US real estate. In fact, Canadians bought more real estate in the United States from April 2020 to May 2021 than any other country in the world, spending about $4.2 billion dollars (foreign buyers from the U.K. only spent $2.3 billion).

Furthermore, in 2022, the Canadian government announced that it will ban overseas buyers from buying houses in Canada in hopes that it will help the housing market cool off. This will likely funnel more investment into U.S. real estate. 

Despite being a business-friendly economic powerhouse, with geographic diversity, excellent weather, and an abundance of land, real estate in the United States remains a bargain and one with great potential for returns. 

America Mortgages is the world’s leading U.S. mortgage specialist based overseas. We are expats ourselves so know exactly how to best serve you. Explore your possibilities when you speak to our U.S. mortgage specialists today!

Sounds enticing? Schedule a call with us to find out all about this and more! [email protected]

www.americamortgages.com

Most of our clients are from Canada – but where are they buying and why?

Clients are from Canada

While America Mortgages has clients from most countries globally, Canada by far is where most of our clients come from.

This is consistent with public information released by the National Association of Realtors; in year-ended March 2020, Canadian’s purchased $9.5B of U.S. residential real estate!

If we assume an average home price of $500,000, that equates to a staggering 19,000 home purchases!

As the top U.S. mortgage specialist specifically focused only on Expats and Foreign Nationals living in Canada, the customer data we have would be considered as the best representation of “real” demand.

In this article, we wanted to dig a little deeper into where they are buying and why.

Here is our data over the past 12 months for Canadian buyers:

  • – Loans funded: 137
  • – Average loan amount: $460,000
  • – Client location: Ontario 52%, Vancouver 33%, Edmonton 5%, Montreal 3%, Others 7%
  • – Top 3 purchase locations: Orlando, FL; Atlanta, GA; Charlotte, NC

Orlando, Florida

Orlando is a natural fit for Canadians, especially those living in Ontario. They share the same time zone, and it’s only a 3-hour flight from Toronto to Orlando. It’s no secret that winters in Canada (and especially Toronto) can be long and harsh, which is why many choose to buy second homes in Florida to escape the cold. Of course, Orlando’s reputation for being an affordable location with social and economic benefits also helps with its popularity. The average home price in Orlando is $293,000 vs C$870,000 for an average home in Toronto. With tourism and job market growth in leisure and hospitality at their highs, it’s no wonder Forbes ranked Orlando as their #1 Best Place to Buy a House 3 years in a row.

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta ticks many boxes and is an underappreciated place for many but offers great value for those looking to take advantage of the recent demographic shift inwards for coastal cities. A little unknown fact is that the Atlanta International Airport is the busiest airport in the world, with over 110 million passengers a year! Beijing #2 at 100 million passengers (2019). Let that sink in a little. A city of 500,000 people has the world’s busiest airport. That is because geographically, it’s perfectly located as a travel hub and hence a growing trend for companies to expand their headquarters there – like Google and Blackrock. Meanwhile, the population growing by 12.18% in the last 8 years – 111% faster than the national average of 5.76%. That also means the area’s annual job growth has risen to the rate of 2.15%. Affordability is a key driver for many real estate investors looking for a strong rental yield. The median purchase price of a 3 bedroom single family home at only $190,000, 15% lower than the national average of $222,000.

Charlotte, North Carolina

Charlotte is not an obvious choice to own property in, but digging a little deeper, we found that it has been one of the best cities to own real estate over the past 10 years. The supply of homes is at a 17 year low, 8 years of home price increases with no signs of slowing down. Another fact that surprises many is that Charlotte has the second-most banking assets after New York City, with Bank of America and Wells Fargo having their regional headquarters there. Meanwhile, CNBC recognizes Charlotte as the third-best city in the country to start a business.

It was also surprising to find out from our clients in Canada that Toronto was only a 2-hour direct flight from Charlotte!

How America Mortgages can help…

Unlike a traditional bank, which can only show you their own bank programs, which are by definition rigid and hard to qualify for, we are a solutions provider. We understand your requirements and suggest several loan options that best suit your requirements; this could be from banks or wholesale lenders, which are unknown by many accounts for 70% of the mortgage lending market. For example, if you are an entrepreneur, you can almost assume you would not be able to qualify for a bank loan. The trouble is banks will drag this on for 3-4 months before rejecting your loan. Our Loan Officers are all experts working with Foreign National and Overseas Expat clients – that is all we do! When you tell us your requirements, we already know from our database of 150 U.S. lender programs that best suits your needs. (Also see Can a Canadian Buy a House in the USA?)

For more details, please visit us at www.americamortgages.com