Paul Wildy

Okay, so here's a statistic that surprised me! The average house price in Canada is actually 10,000 Pounds more expensive than in the UK. Avg Canadian price at the end of November 08 was $280,880. Thats about £163,300 at current (very low) exchange rate of 1.72. According to the Nationwide the current average UK price is £153,000.

Regional variations aside I had always assumed that generally average prices in Canada were much less than in the UK.

Atlantic Xpat

Trouble is that generalisations fall down on the 'its a big country with a lot of variance' bit. Add in the collapse in the GBP vs CAD$ exchange rate and yes, Canada appears more expensive. I'd hazard a guess moreso in Vancouver than in NS though! T'other thing to bear in mind is that your average $280k house in Canada is going to be larger/nicer than your GBP153k house in UK.

Paul Wildy

Yes, a quick search on rightmove.co.uk for a house of equivalent value to the one I have here would not make me rush back to the UK. They may have dropped in price but anything you would actually want to buy still looks absurdly expensive to me

R I C H

The average house price in Kamloops at the end of the first six months of 2008, according to CHMC statistics, was $392,753. That is an increase of 18 per cent from $332,841 compared to the same period in 2007. Cheap, it aint.

Getting There

Even at post 2006-07 price spike Calgary prices, our home out here was purchased for the same price as we sold our house in St Albans, Herts. They are both detached properties but that's where the comparison ends...the house here in Okotoks is 3.5 times the size of the St Albans one and just in a different league altogether.

So don't just compare price, would be the message.

Eamonn & Janet.

SambaDeAmigo

Depends on location as well. You can still buy a studio flat in North London for GBP159k.
As someone stated already, the size will surely be smaller in the UK.

celtic warrior

That is cheap(for London)

In Edinburgh at Ocean Terminal, a 1 bed flat went for £275,000

Mind you it's not called "Little London" for nothing

gibsonslanding

really!!!!!!...............me thinks i should be buying some for investment.......how big are these 'studio apartments'? small field mouse or rabbit sized........lol

SambaDeAmigo

http://www.chessestates.com/detail.a...de=CHES_001097
Might be good for renting.

JamesM

To be fair the Nationwide, of all the UK Indexes, has the cheapest average houseprice. If you look at Halifax, The Land Registry, The Communities and Local Government House Price Index and Rightmove they all have higher average UK house prices.

The Nationwide is just one sample.

Here is a useful link explaining the various UK Indexes:-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3132863.stm

dboy

Also the housing decline in the UK has been underway a lot longer than in Canada. Prices have really only just started to fall here.

Also for 153,000 pounds in manchester you are looking at a 20 year old 3 bed semi. Hardly a good comparison.

paolosmythe

I had wondered if such pricing comparisons were based upon a consistent variable, such as per total floor space.

What i would place more credence on though, is the affordability of property; ie. a ratio for the cost per unit area to the average net income.

Canada could be cheap as chips, but if you are only being paid peanuts....
(can you tell i am hungry?)

I have been informed that a Vancouver 2 bedroom apartment is palatial, when compared to its London based version.

dboy

Yes affordability is the issue. My income is about 25 percent higher than in the UK - so my money goes further. I bought in Vancouver in 1997 before the prices went nuts. Now prices are coming down - 16 percent in 7 months and a 20 percent projection for 2009 (for vancouver).

You can find a nice 2 bedroom downtown for around $450,000 although there are cheaper and certainly more than a few more than that. A far as size - well an average 2 bed would be around 900 sq feet which is not bad, some are squeezed into 675 sq feet which is ridiculous. Most also include a parking spot and storage locker.

Vancouver gets a bad rap for prices but there is significant variance depending where you are. 25 km out of the city the prices are a good 40 percent lower. Prices are considerably lower than London.

geedee

Er... I hope that you're not trying to equate Vancouver with London. Vancouver had a population of just over 600k in 2007, and 2.5M for the lower mainland metropolitan area... somewhat short of London's (the largest city in the EU) 7.5M in the "city" or 12-14M in the metropolitan area.

Edited to add that's why I could never live in London!!!

JamesM

Depends where you are looking in London.

At current exchange rate of $1.81 to the £1 $450,000 for a 2 bed place in Vancouver seems quite alot working out at £248,000. That could buy the same equivalent (2 bed Apartment) in lots of parts of London.