Spending $1M lets you 'live like a king' in Winnipeg, or buy a Vancouver tear-down
A new report shows how much more you can get for your real estate dollar if you live in Winnipeg compared to most other Canadian cities.
Royal LePage looked at the kind of home people could buy for $1 million and found the best value for that money was in the Manitoba capital.
"Where a million dollars might by you tear-down in Vancouver, you know, you can live like a king here in Winnipeg," Michael Froese, realtor and managing partner with Royal LePage said.
On average, a million-dollar home in Winnipeg nets you four bedrooms, four bathrooms and roughly 3,505 sq. ft. compared to a small fixer-upper in Vancouver or a starter home in areas outside of Toronto.
More million-dollar listings
Winnipeg is also boasting more and more million-dollar listings compared to a decade ago. In 2007, four homes in the million-dollar range sold compared to 40 since January 2016, Froese said.
"Ten years ago ... you pretty much had to lead [buyers] down Wellington Crescent, into Tuxedo, maybe some parts of north River Heights or South Drive and that was about it," he said. "Now you have lots to choose from with the new developments such as Sage Creek, Bridgwater, Pritchard Farm, etcetera."
While $1 million buys you more space in Winnipeg than other cities, it nets you less than 10 years ago. On average, $1 million bought 4,400 square feet in Winnipeg in 2007; today it buys 3,505 square feet.
Buyers moving to Winnipeg
The typical buyer for the $1-million listings is a family with two working professionals between the ages of 35 and 50, Froese said.
"A lot of Winnipeggers have bought these homes ... but definitely we've seen some people from Vancouver, Toronto," he said. "Those markets have been going crazy so they've made their hay over there and have come back to Winnipeg."
Froese says the surge in million-dollar listings shouldn't concern the entry-level buyer.
While the average price of a home in Winnipeg ($278,000) has increased significantly over the last 10 years, it still remains well below the average price across Canada.
