Cities with biggest house price drops in Ontario

Housing prices have dropped across Canada but those looking to buy a new home might wonder what cities have had the biggest decrease.

The national benchmark price hit its peak in 2023 in June, reaching $760,600, before embarking on a downward trend for the next five months, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

Mississauga saw a 4.2 per cent drop in the average house price to $951,608 from November to December. In 2022, the average price for a home in Mississauga was $977,016, according to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board.

In Burlington, the median cost of a home was $936,750 in December, down from the year-to-date median of $998,450, a drop of 6.1 per cent. While in Oakville, the median cost was $1.25 million, down from $1.36M, a drop of 8.1 per cent.

Most major cities, including Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, and Winnipeg, saw prices drop off since summer, according to a new report from real estate brokerage Zoocasa.

This is partly due to seasonality as home sales typically drop in the winter months but Zoocasa suggests it is also due to increased borrowing costs.

While most cities are seeing price drops, in its latest report, Zoocasa analyzed benchmark price data for 21 major markets to find out which cities are seeing the largest price drops since the summer.

In Ontario, it appears Kitchener-Waterloo experienced the most drastic decline, with the benchmark price decreasing by 8.9 per cent since June to $708,600 and by 0.6 per cent since last year, according to Zoocasa.

Next was the London and St. Thomas area, Greater Toronto and Hamilton-Burlington with benchmark prices falling by more than seven per cent since June.

The benchmark price in Guelph and area dropped by 6.6 per cent since June and two per cent since 2022, with its November benchmark dropping below $800,000 for the first time since January 2023, according to Zoocasa.

“As demand has fallen off in these Ontario markets, prices have been able to stabilize closer to pre-pandemic levels,” Zoocasa notes in the report.

Those looking to move farther away may want to check out Regina where single-family homes experienced the greatest year-over-year drop in price at 3.2 per cent and since June prices have fallen by 4.3 per cent to a benchmark price of $321,400 in November 2023.

Winnipeg and Halifax-Dartmouth single-family home prices fell by more than 4.5 per cent since June, both with benchmark prices below $520,000, while Edmonton also saw a modest drop from June at 1.8 per cent.

Calgary, St. John’s, Newfoundland, and Saint John, New Brunswick are the only cities where prices did not decline.

In fact, Calgary’s home prices have increased by 10.5 per cent since November 2022 but the city is still relatively affordable with a benchmark price of $557,400 in November 2023.

See the full report from Zoocasa here.

Main Photo of Waterloo, Ontario by Giligone