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When is the best time to buy a house in Ontario?
Buying a new home is always a big decision, especially if you are looking for a family house. If you decide to buy a house in Ontario, there will be plenty of factors to consider. Your budget and the house’s preferred location are just a few. However, did you know that the real estate market has its peak season? Before choosing a perfect destination for your family home, considering a few of these facts will help you get the best deal. So if you want to know the best time to buy a house in Ontario, keep reading.
What are some factors that decide the best time to buy a house in Ontario?
Like all markets, the real estate market is decided by a variety of factors. When trying to find the best time to buy a house in Ontario, to get the best possible price, you should consider not only internal or personal factors but external ones as well. In essence, this means that choosing the best time to buy a house will mean that you will have to consider both the market conditions and your finances. For example, if you are moving from BC to Ontario for personal or business reasons, you will have to factor that into your decision and timing.
To help you in deciding the best time to buy a house in Ontario, you need to consider a variety of real estate market statistics as well as personal and other external factors
However, according to Centennial Moving Canada, buying a home during peak season or when the housing market is at a high would not be the best financial decision. To help you avoid that, we will go over the most important economic and personal facts you should consider before moving on to some of the crucial aspects of the Ontario real estate market.
Personal factors to consider
Economic reasons aside, it’s important to consider what is the best time for you to buy a house in Ontario. Personal reasons that you should consider could be numerous.Personal finances are a big part of them. You could be expecting a larger amount of money at a certain time or get a promotion and a bigger salary. For example, your kids might be all grown and want to move out, or you want to buy a family home and prepare kids for a family move. One option is to sell your family home and look for a smaller house. No matter what your situation is, you should decide which time to purchase a home works best for you according to your financial situation and lifestyle.
Opting for a smaller house after your kids move out could be a wise choice
The decision to buy a house rests not only on your personal finances but other personal factors. For example, it may not be the best time to buy a home in Ontario if you haven’t settled in. By settled in, we don’t mean marriage and kids. Settling in implies you plan on living in Ontario full time and your job allows for it. If you plan on moving, or your job isn’t really stable, you may think of putting off buying a home until you have found the city you plan on living for most of the time.
Market and economic factors
When it comes to the housing market, it is somewhat cyclical and, for the most part, predictable. By following various statistics concerning the market, you can easily come to the conclusion of when is the best time to buy a house in Ontario. However, the recent pandemic has shown how much the market is susceptible to outside factors. Not only that, but how much such events can cause long-term volatility in home prices as well as the demand and supply of homes in Canada.
The pandemic has changed much of our lifestyle, so it’s no surprise that it had a strong effect on the Ontario real estate market
Some of the most important factors we mentioned are demand and supply. The demand is, in essence, how many people are buying in a given period. On the other hand, as the name says, the supply includes the supply of homes on the market or the number of homes available to be bought. Both of these affect the total cost of your home. The rise in supply lowers home prices and vice versa, and at the same time, the rise in demand raises prices. Knowing how these two-factor change over the course of one year will help you in finding both reliable moving companies Ontario, and your perfect home. We will talk more about these two factors and their state in 2022 in Ontario and how they could affect your home buying.
What about taxes?
When talking about the finances and economic factors of buying a home in Ontario, let’s not forget about one crucial aspect – taxes. A lot of Canadians know about property taxes. In Ontario, the property tax pays for public education, the local police, libraries, and the fire department. The rate itself will be different depending on which city you live in. But nonetheless, the property tax in Ontario is calculated based on three simple components: municipal tax rate, education tax rate, and property values. The municipality sends out yearly tax bills to their owners, so you will have no problem figuring out how much you owe. Additionally, if you are not a Canadian citizen, you will have to pay a 15% foreign buyers tax when buying a home. That is significantly higher than if you were a Canadian citizen, so be sure to factor that in.
Check if you also qualify for a tax credit
Besides paying taxes, there are some incentives and grants or even tax credits for homeowners in Ontario you should definitely use. These tax credits are especially useful to start your savings. You could also set up an emergency fund for home maintenance by using the money you saved on these credits and grants also since owning a home isn’t cheap either. The first such grant is the Ontario senior homeowners’ property tax grant for senior homeowners with low to moderate incomes. If you fit in the category of a senior homeowner in Ontario, you may apply for this grant which will provide a maximum grant of $500.
Taxes may not play a big part in the timing of your home purchase, but they are still something you should consider
Some of the tax credits in Ontario you should explore are the Ontario energy and property tax credit or the Northern Ontario energy credit. If you are a first-time homebuyer, you could even qualify for a First-Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit of $5,000, which adds $750 to your tax refund. Either way, be sure to explore other tax grants and credits that will help you decide if now is the right time to buy a home in Ontario.
Is 2022 the best time to buy a house in Ontario?
When it comes to the real estate market in Ontario, it really depends on the city. However, if we were to look at Ontario in general, there are some interesting factors you should consider to help you decide if moving from Saskatoon to Ontario is the right choice for you. Firstly, the average home price remained the same year-over-year. In August 2022, the median home cost in Ontario was $829,739. However, if we were to look at the cities individually, we would see that home prices decreased in Brampton, the Greater Toronto area, and Mississauga. Additionally, we could see a yearly increase in home prices in cities like Ottawa and Hamilton.
If we look at the past 6 months, there are significant decreases in the average home prices of around 23.6%. That is undoubtedly good news for anyone on the market for a new home. Even though it is good news, the decrease in home prices from their peak in February of 2022 is due to rates and mortgage hikes. Canadian prime rates doubled in this period from 2.70% to 5.45%. So don’t go rushing to buy a home and find relocation services Canada, because even though the prices decreased, mortgages significantly increased.
Which city is the best city to buy a house in Ontario?
As we said, Ontario is pretty big. While there are general trends in the real estate market, there is a significant variance from city to city. Home prices vary widely, and different cities have different supply and demand chain changes. As expected, Toronto is the most expensive city to buy a home in, with an average home price of $1,061,876 this August. This is a decrease of around 2% from last year, so it may be a good time if you are considering moving from Alberta to Ontario. However, if you are in Toronto, you know that buying a house there also comes with high costs of living. Make sure you factor that in the overall cost as well.
Toronto is the city with the highest home prices in Ontario, but they have decreased in the past year
Overall, most cities in Ontario saw a decrease in home costs. In addition to that, there were fewer transactions in September of 2022 in Ontario. The only two bigger cities that saw an increase in home prices are Ottawa and Hamilton. Ottawa saw an increase of 0.7% when compared to last year. This city is a prime example of how demographics can change the real estate market. This is mostly because there was a significant increase in population size of 8.9% in the past 5 years. This obviously drove demand up, and the prices followed.
Ontario real estate market forecast
So, is now the best time to buy a house in Ontario, or should you wait? The two most important indicators necessary to make this decision are inflation and mortgage rates. These two factors combined will affect the Ontario real estate market the most. With rising inflation and mortgage rates, experts expect this will lower demand and, in turn, lower home prices. While the interest rates doubled in the past year, it is unclear how strong of an impact that will make on the demand and home cost. Investments in residential construction have increased in the past year, as the pandemic was a great year for rising property values. In 2021, the total investment in the construction of residential buildings was around CAD $11.1 billion.
A significant indicator in Ontario’s real estate market will also be migration patterns. During the pandemic, we saw a decrease in total migration. In addition to that, a large number of people moved out of bigger cities and to smaller ones. That is what happened to Ottawa. During this boom, many markets and companies grew, from the real estate business to car shipping companies Canada. As economies are opening up, it is expected that the housing demand will also rise, which might increase the prices, although it is unlikely due to mortgage rates.
Things to consider before buying a house in Ontario
Once you decide to move into a new home, you’ll have plenty of factors to consider. Will you be able to pay for the renovation and moving costs and cover other expenses? When moving from province to province, is purchasing a property the best financial decision you can make? Will your home have greater value in the future? These are just some of the questions you should ask yourself. Since owning a home comes with great maintenance costs, you should do your research and do a proper assessment of the important things:
How big of a house are you looking for. If you want to buy a house in Ontario, you’ll have plenty of options. You should decide what you want early depending on your budget and family situation.
Financial plan. Unless you prepare the exact amount of money in cash for buying a new home, you should make a solid financial plan. After moving into a new house in Ontario might need to cover additional costs.
The best time to relocate. People usually plan to relocate as soon as their new home is ready for moving in. However, moving can be expensive, which is why you should consider the best time to buy a house in Ontario.
Additional expenses regarding your home purchase. Expenses like renovation, mortgage fees, and different taxes are all the things you should consider when buying a house.
Make sure you know all about potential repairs before you put an offer on a house you like.
Location, location, location – how important is it when buying a house
If you ask any realtor, location is the most important thing when buying a house in Ontario. And, of course, anyone will agree. However, it can be important in the decision itself. As everyone knows, home values vary depending on the neighborhood. You may think that the best financially sound decision is to find a house in the most expensive neighborhood. But affordability might be an issue if you don’t have an unlimited budget. Be that as it may, there is a workaround for your budget. When buying a house, always look for a house with “good bones.” Try to find the worst-looking house in a good neighborhood because with a minor investment in renovation, your property value will increase tenfold.
Secondly, looking for a neighborhood with low crime and good schools will be crucial in the long run if you are trying to find a family house. Not only are property values higher in such neighborhoods, but your quality of life will be better. After all, it’s important that you are satisfied with your neighborhood as much as your house. Researching the local market will surely help you get the best from your home purchase.
What is the best time of year to buy a house in Ontario?
Unless you’re in a rush to purchase a new home, you should consider the best month to do it. Considering that people are selling their homes at lower prices during the fall, January could be the best option. Most real estate experts advise that this is the time of the year when prices usually go down. The reason is simple: people have less money after the holidays, and no one wants to move houses in the dead of snowy winter. So, January might be the best option if you can stand moving after the holidays.
Make sure to examine your options and consider wintertime for buying a house.
The lower demand for homes in this period means lower home prices. However, we went over more details in this article that will help you to get a clear picture before hiring long distance moving companies Canada, and buying a home. After all, Ontario is home to 52 cities and almost 10 million people. Finding the best time to buy a home somewhere like this isn’t going to be as straightforward as it seems.
How to plan a home relocation?
If you have found a perfect destination for your family home and want to buy a home in Ontario, you should plan your relocation, too. Whether you are moving from one province to another or moving within the same city, you should consider looking for reliable moving assistance. Moving companies in Canada offer a variety of services you can choose from. Planning your moving day can be much easier if you can rely on movers to do all the hard work.
However, planning a relocation in Ontario could be expensive, especially when moving into a large house. If you have plenty of inventory to move, you should make sure to pack your belongings the right way. If you decide to pay for a full-moving service, this would be the job for your movers. To put it simply, you should write down a moving plan and calculate your moving expenses in advance.
Plan your relocation with a moving company when moving during the winter.
The best time to buy a house in Ontario will depend on many factors. Different times can work well depending on the housing market, financial plan, and family situation. If you are in doubt, make sure to consult a professional real estate agent and start looking for a new home ahead of time.
As we have already established, deciding the best time to buy a house in Ontario depends on various factors. Generally speaking, we are expected to be headed for a recession. The inflation rate is on the rise, as are bank and mortgage rates. However, if your finances are secure, the best time to buy a house in Ontario would exactly be the recession. This is because the demand is lower, which means the prices are lower as well. In summary, the timing depends on personal factors like finances and overall stability. Getting the best price once you’ve decided to buy is more up to all the external factors we outlined. Hopefully, all of this made the decision easier for you.