Data for the City of Hamilton indicates that in 2013 88.0 per cent of properties were available at $500,000 or less compared to just 11.1 per cent of properties in 2023. Photo Credit: Adobe Stock Images.
The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) recently released new data showing just how unaffordable the housing market is getting within Ontario, specifically the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA).
The statistics show a drastic decline in the percentage of homes available for $500,000 or less compared to ten years ago (2013).
MPAC is an independent not-for-profit corporation funded by all Ontario municipalities and accountable to the province that assesses and classifies properties in Ontario.
MPAC analyzed their property data and Ontario’s Land Registry real property data licensed through Teranet to compare home prices from December 31, 2013, to December 31, 2023.
Their conclusion is that “communities with homes under $500,000 are becoming increasingly scarce.”
Data for the City of Hamilton indicates that in 2013 88.0 per cent of properties were available at $500,000 or less compared to just 11.1 per cent of properties in 2023.
Meanwhile, the percentage of properties valued between $1 million and $1.5 million jumped from 0.6 per cent of properties to 18.8 per cent in the City of Hamilton.
Finally, the percentage of properties over $1.5 million went up from 0.2 per cent to 4.2 per cent.
Greg Martino, Vice President and Chief Valuation and Standards Officer for MPAC, says, “Looking across the province, our data shows increases in home values across Ontario – even in smaller communities outside the GTHA.”
“The reality is that current home prices are a reflection of various economic forces at play. Factors like supply and demand, increased construction and labour costs plus inflation are all part of what’s driving today’s house prices.”
MPAC says that in order to find properties for less than $500,000, potential homebuyers must look to cities like Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay, Thunder Bay or Windsor.
The report also analyzes property type, noting that, in 2013, 88 per cent of all residential condominiums in the GTHA were less than $500,000, with a median value of about $325,000.
Today, only 11 per cent of condos in the GTHA are less than $500,000 and the median value is over $645,000.
Going further, in 2013, 94 per cent of semi-detached and 97 per cent of townhomes were priced $750,000 or less.
Now that number has fallen to 33 per cent of semi-detached homes and 46 per cent of townhomes.
For detached homes, the median home value in 2013 was about $378,000.
That number increased by 128 per cent and the median home value for detached homes is now at over $862,000.
Additionally, in the GTHA, 78 per cent of detached homes are estimated to be worth more than one million dollars, compared to only 12 per cent ten years ago.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
