Kingston, Ont. has the fastest rising home prices in all of Canada, new numbers show
Kingston's housing market is red hot.
According to a report by Royal LePage's house price survey, the city's housing prices have jumped higher than any other city in the country.
The aggregate price of a home in Kingston increased 38.1 per cent year-over-year, reaching $722,100 in the fourth quarter of 2021. While the median price of a single-family detached home increased 44.3 per cent to $780,600.
Nikki McAlpine has been trying to buy a three-bedroom home in the city for more than two years. She wants a bedroom for herself and her husband, one for their young son, and one for her mother, who is now living with them.
“It just makes it really discouraging for people like us,” she says of the market. “We’ve managed to get a lot of debts paid off, and we’ve got an approval now of $400,000 and there’s nothing.”
For a city this size, she's considering what was once an unthinkable commute.
“We’ve looked within a one-hour radius of Kingston, if we can at least get a home, we’re willing to drive to work and there’s nothing. There’s absolutely nothing,” she says.
The report shows about half of the buyers are coming from outside the region, the majority of them from Toronto, where housing prices are listed as the highest in the country now.
David Gordon, a Queen's University professor for the School of Urban Planning, says one big factor has been the pandemic. It has workers looking elsewhere for more affordable homes with more space.
“Kingston was always just a little too far, at two-and-a-half hours away, but remote work has made distance a little bit more achievable,” he says.
In Toronto, $400,000 listings include one-bedroom condos in North York. In Ottawa, a four-bed, two-bath attached home is listed in Orléans.
But in Kingston, a house listed at that price includes a three-bed, two-bath detached house in the city's desirable west end.
The report shows with a small number of houses on the market, there are bidding wars for the ones that are available, driving prices up.
Gordon says Kingston itself has proven to be an attractive draw.
“Kingston has a lot to like; it has one of the best downtowns of any medium city in North America, has a lovely historic core and a terrific waterfront.”
But all of those soaring values leave people like McAlpine out.
“Honestly feels like for someone like myself, first-time homebuyer, decent income, great credit, the good down payment? It shouldn’t be this hard. It really shouldn’t,” she says.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
El Nino weakening doesn't mean cooler temperatures this summer, forecasters say
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
BREAKING 15-year-old boy stabbed in Ottawa on Thursday dies
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
Dash cam catches moment suspected drunk driver hits parked car, sends it careening into North Shore flower shop
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
Nylander defends Leafs' core after playoff exit, Toronto again picks up the pieces
The Maple Leafs battled back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Boston Bruins with consecutive 2-1 victories - including one that required extra time - in their first-round playoff series to push the club's Original Six rival to the limit before suffering a devastating Game 7 overtime loss.
Amid climate change warnings, Canadians lukewarm on electric vehicles
Amid scientists' warnings that nations need to transition away from fossil fuels to limit climate change, Canadians are still lukewarm on electric vehicles, according to a study conducted by Nanos Research for CTV News.
Three dead, two hospitalized, following collision in Fredericton: police
Three people have died and two have been hospitalized after a speeding car struck a tree and landed on another vehicle in Fredericton Sunday morning.
Montreal man on the hook for thousands of dollars after a feature on his Tesla caused an accident
A Montreal man is warning Tesla drivers about using the Smart Summon feature after his vehicle hit another in a parking lot.
Madonna's biggest-ever concert transforms Rio's Copacabana beach into a massive dance floor
Madonna put on a free concert on Copacabana beach Saturday night, turning Rio de Janeiro's vast stretch of sand into an enormous dance floor teeming with a multitude of her fans.
Mexican authorities say thieves killed 2 Australians and an American to steal their truck
Thieves killed two Australians and an American on a surfing trip to Mexico in order to steal their truck, particularly because they wanted the tires, authorities said Sunday.