Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Not sure what you mean by lack of Urban growth boundaries? If you mean northern Ontario from what I understand it is very rugged, hilly and lots of rocks and lakes. It not nice flat land like the midwest in the US.
But Manitoba,Saskatchewan and Alberta does have lots of nice areas of flat land like Phoenix, Vegas, Tulsa or Reno and the midwest in the US.
As Avondalist has correctly pointed out, what we call Agricultural Land Reserves in BC, exist to protect lands for agricultural use. In Vancouver's case, that means farms exist in the Metro Vancouver area, but land is protected throughout the province.
However the cost of housing at least in Vancouver is also affected because
"Metro Vancouver region has a land base of 2,870 square kilometres, but less than one-third of this area is primed for any type of urban development, due to both natural and artificial policy-based barriers that restrain the region’s developable area.
According to the Metro Vancouver Regional District, the region’s current land is as follows:
554 km2 is protected for the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), a provincial policy that protects fertile soils for agricultural uses
1,347 km2 is safeguarded for conservation and recreation uses, such as the reservoir watersheds in the North Shore mountains, regional parks, floodplains, marshlands, and other ecologically sensitive areas
136 km2 for industrial and mixed-employment uses; 114 km2 as rural areas
Some one was saying (on talk radio) the US does not invest in housing market like Canada or the UK. That people in the US invest in stocks and bones. Where in Canada there is more people buying up homes to get rich and use that as assets.
But that does not explain it all. When you compare medium to small cities in the US to medium to small cities in say Canada.
Like when you can get home in Dallas ( mentro area 6 million people) or Houston (mentro area 6 million people) for $3000,000 yes $3000,000 and very small cities in Canada example of population of 700,000 people all the way down to population of 300,000 people the price of house cost close to million to buy a house there.
Like say Winnipeg or Windsor that would cost $200,000 if it was US city. Where to get home in Winnipeg or Windsor would cost million.
That is 9 times more people than 700,000 people and it is way cheaper there.
Or you can buy house in Phoenix, Vegas, Tulsa or Reno for $100,000 and you cannot by a house in very small city with population under 300,000 people in Canada out in middle of no where for price of $500,000
Or you can get house in state of Kentucky or the state of Alabama for under $100,000
So I think some thing else is going on here why the price is so different.
It cannot be all speculation, investment buying or flippers. There has to be other reason than Canada and UK over investing in it..
Can some one here explain the price difference and the reason why?
I would assume that some of it can be tied to less desirable land. If I recall, something like 90% of Canada’s population is within 100 miles of the United States. The u.k is obviously an island without much space.
Isn’t it also more common in European cities (and probably Canada as well) that their urban centers are actually kept nicer and there isn’t sprawling flight further and further into the suburbs as the city center deteriorates?
Or you can buy house in Phoenix, Vegas, Tulsa or Reno for $100,000 and you cannot by a house in very small city with population under 300,000 people in Canada out in middle of no where for price of $500,000
Or you can get house in state of Kentucky or the state of Alabama for under $100,000
So I think some thing else is going on here why the price is so different.
It cannot be all speculation, investment buying or flippers. There has to be other reason than Canada and UK over investing in it..
Can some one here explain the price difference and the reason why?
You can't get a house in Phoenix, Vegas or Reno for $100k. Maybe a very small house that needs total rehab. In Tulsa perhaps. In Kentucky and Alabama in small towns that is possible. In metro areas no. In the US there are areas that have been decreasing in population for a long time. There is little demand and prices are low and lots of vacant homes. Supply and demand. Perhaps that is not the case in Canada or the UK. Even though that is changing here.
Some one was saying (on talk radio) the US does not invest in housing market like Canada or the UK. That people in the US invest in stocks and bones. Where in Canada there is more people buying up homes to get rich and use that as assets.
But that does not explain it all. When you compare medium to small cities in the US to medium to small cities in say Canada.
Like when you can get home in Dallas ( mentro area 6 million people) or Houston (mentro area 6 million people) for $3000,000 yes $3000,000 and very small cities in Canada example of population of 700,000 people all the way down to population of 300,000 people the price of house cost close to million to buy a house there.
Like say Winnipeg or Windsor that would cost $200,000 if it was US city. Where to get home in Winnipeg or Windsor would cost million.
That is 9 times more people than 700,000 people and it is way cheaper there.
Or you can buy house in Phoenix, Vegas, Tulsa or Reno for $100,000 and you cannot by a house in very small city with population under 300,000 people in Canada out in middle of no where for price of $500,000
Or you can get house in state of Kentucky or the state of Alabama for under $100,000
So I think some thing else is going on here why the price is so different.
It cannot be all speculation, investment buying or flippers. There has to be other reason than Canada and UK over investing in it..
Can some one here explain the price difference and the reason why?
Cities in the UK and Canada (and Australia and New Zealand) have greenbelts surrounding their cities where it is difficult or impossible to build new housing. This is by law. Urban growth boundaries are legal barriers saying, "you can't build here".
The US has some of these in places like Oregon and California, but most cities in the US have no urban growth boundaries so they can sprawl.
Urban growth boundaries, by restricting the supply of land, drive up its price.
As Avondalist has correctly pointed out, what we call Agricultural Land Reserves in BC, exist to protect lands for agricultural use. In Vancouver's case, that means farms exist in the Metro Vancouver area, but land is protected throughout the province.
However the cost of housing at least in Vancouver is also affected because
"Metro Vancouver region has a land base of 2,870 square kilometres, but less than one-third of this area is primed for any type of urban development, due to both natural and artificial policy-based barriers that restrain the region’s developable area.
According to the Metro Vancouver Regional District, the region’s current land is as follows:
554 km2 is protected for the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), a provincial policy that protects fertile soils for agricultural uses
1,347 km2 is safeguarded for conservation and recreation uses, such as the reservoir watersheds in the North Shore mountains, regional parks, floodplains, marshlands, and other ecologically sensitive areas
136 km2 for industrial and mixed-employment uses; 114 km2 as rural areas
That is interesting because Seattle Metro area is not that far from say Vancouver Metro area but if I’m not mistaken the land is very similar to Seattle and Seattle mento area like Tacoma is way more sprawling than say Vancouver.
Where Vancouver land protection is probably the highest in the world.
I wonder if that is in part because there is very little farmland in Canada in nice weather mostly being in Southern Ontario and British Columbia. Where every where else is too cold and so you can only farm two or three months of the year.
Where the US has warmer weather and can farm more and have farms every where and do not need those land farm protection like in say Vancouver?
I would assume that some of it can be tied to less desirable land. If I recall, something like 90% of Canada’s population is within 100 miles of the United States. The u.k is obviously an island without much space.
Isn’t it also more common in European cities (and probably Canada as well) that their urban centers are actually kept nicer and there isn’t sprawling flight further and further into the suburbs as the city center deteriorates?
Yea that because the US had history of white flight leaving the city and moving to the suburbs and so because of the racism they embrace suburb leaving.
Where in Toronto and Vancouver they took down those old factories and buildings and built condos. There is more mix match of homeless not even block from where you live.
Than you got cities like Detroit and Cleveland that people abandoned and moved to the suburbs and other cities. The UK and Canada did mot have large black population like the US that lead to the white flight to leaving the city and moving to suburbs and other cities.
There also weather where many people in the northeast part of the US moved to the south and west coast with nicer weather. And that is why cities like Baltimore, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and Detroit and Cleveland are not growing the population. As people are leaving the city and moving to the suburbs and other cities with nicer weather.
This may have in printed a more of culture of suburb living than city leaving culture.
That is interesting because Seattle Metro area is not that far from say Vancouver Metro area but if I’m not mistaken the land is very similar to Seattle and Seattle mento area like Tacoma is way more sprawling than say Vancouver.
Where Vancouver land protection is probably the highest in the world.
I wonder if that is in part because there is very little farmland in Canada in nice weather mostly being in Southern Ontario and British Columbia. Where every where else is too cold and so you can only farm two or three months of the year.
Where the US has warmer weather and can farm more and have farms every where and do not need those land farm protection like in say Vancouver?
The layout of Seattle is quite different than Vancouver. Seattle isn't hemmed in by an international border, nor are the mountains hovering over downtown.
It's much tighter in Vancouver.
People who don't know the two cities well, often leap to the conclusion that they are very similar. They are not. The layout, the vibe, the urban planning, the parks, the access to the waterfront, and on an on, are completely different. The only thing the same is the weather, and perhaps a certain west coast feel.
Saying there is very little farmland in Canada so we are protecting it, isn't exactly correct.
We are a net exporter of food. We produce more than we consume.
That said, we do probably protect certain areas that produce certain types of food.
The growing season, depending on crops, is MUCH more that two or three months.
For example in my area the growing season starts in late March and ends in late October.
In place like the Toronto area it's a bit shorter staring in May and ending in early October.
It varies across the country.
The reason we have Agricultural Land Reserves, at least in my area, is because the loss of farmland by a growing city was seen as an issue. It's a win win. You preserve and save LOCAL land that produces food of many types which employees people, while at the same time helps stem the tide of sprawl. I personally like the idea that the eggs, corn, milk, beef, chicken, pork, honey and many fruits, etc that I buy have been produced a commuters distance away.
Which is not to say that we don't get food from around the world. I try not to buy imported food when it can be produced locally. Of course exceptions are made for cheeses, wine etc where the imported items offer something different or better.
Some one was saying (on talk radio) the US does not invest in housing market like Canada or the UK. That people in the US invest in stocks and bones. Where in Canada there is more people buying up homes to get rich and use that as assets.
But that does not explain it all. When you compare medium to small cities in the US to medium to small cities in say Canada.
Like when you can get home in Dallas ( mentro area 6 million people) or Houston (mentro area 6 million people) for $3000,000 yes $3000,000 and very small cities in Canada example of population of 700,000 people all the way down to population of 300,000 people the price of house cost close to million to buy a house there.
Like say Winnipeg or Windsor that would cost $200,000 if it was US city. Where to get home in Winnipeg or Windsor would cost million.
That is 9 times more people than 700,000 people and it is way cheaper there.
Or you can buy house in Phoenix, Vegas, Tulsa or Reno for $100,000 and you cannot by a house in very small city with population under 300,000 people in Canada out in middle of no where for price of $500,000
Or you can get house in state of Kentucky or the state of Alabama for under $100,000
So I think some thing else is going on here why the price is so different.
It cannot be all speculation, investment buying or flippers. There has to be other reason than Canada and UK over investing in it..
Can some one here explain the price difference and the reason why?
Much of your data looks like cherry-picking or wrong.
A couple of them that are wrong - Winnepeg average is $374K CND ($295K USD), Windsor average is $575K CND ($450 K USD) - neither is close to the $1M that you listed.
Since when is 700,000 a very small city - there are only 20 cities in the US and 3 in the UK that have over 700K pop.
Your claim of houses for $100K in the cities of Phoenix, Vega or Reno is also incorrect - for example, in Reno the cheapest place is a studio apartment for $140K. In LV, or Phoenix, the only things below $100K are mobile homes and 1br apartments - not really houses so false comparison as the same as having to spend $500K for a house in Canada - the average house in PHX or LV is about the same as their Canadian counterparts if take into account exchange rates. The comparison that was done seems to ignore that the Canadian dollar is worth about 30% less than the USD.
The average price of a house in the UK is 270K pounds, that is about $360K USD. If you take out Vancouver and Toronto that significantly inflate the Canadian prices, the average price in the rest of Canada is about $470K CND ($368k USD). The average in the US is $379K - so all 3 are about the same on average.
If look at some of the larger cities you get similar numbers in each country. The average price in Montreal it is $530K CND, that is $415 USD, Calgary is $510K CND, which is $399K USD, Liverpool UK is 206K pounds or $275K USD. Birmingham UK it is 274K pounds or about $365K USD. For US cities, Houston is at $325K, Phoenix at $396K and Philly at $259K, Las Vegas is $334K. Calgary is about the size of Phoenix and prices are similar - most comparisons show very similar prices between countries. It doesn't look like there is a large difference in reality - Canada might be a little more but not really a substantial difference and certainly not "so different".
I mean in terms terms of weather like in Southern Ontario and Vancouver area. If they do not preserve the farmland in Southern Ontario or Vancouver area they will have to go to northern British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoban and Saskatchewan or northwest territories and the weather is colder there and good luck growing fruits and vegetables or having livestock there. And by American standard you only get two or three months of summer there.
Where in the US not such big problem as you can go almost any where and set up a farm and the weather will be good for farming.
Last edited by Bubble99; 02-28-2022 at 05:16 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
That's where we invest.
