What homes you can buy in real estate markets that have had big price corrections

In some of the most expensive real estate markets in Canada, prices topped out in spring 2022 and have been falling ever since. Every month, the Canadian Real Estate Association publishes data on 59 submarkets across the country, and in its most recent report, 29 were either flat or down compared to their zenith. Ontario has been the hardest hit, with 14 submarkets where detached home prices are down more than 25 per cent since the peak. Here’s a look at what you can get today in some of the most steeply corrected markets.

Down 29 per cent

517 Farmstead Dr., Milton, Ont.

Asking price: $1,299,000

One of the deepest corrections, in both dollar terms and percentage decline, is in the suburban Oakville-Milton area, west of Toronto. According to CREA data, in March, 2022, a median detached home in the area cost $1,796,800. The same home today might fetch $526,900 less, or about $1,269,900.

For that price, you could pick up this four-bedroom, four-bathroom split-level home in central Milton. With its renovated kitchen and a finished basement that looks like a neighbourhood pub, this home would have sold four years ago for several hundred thousand dollars more than it’s likely to sell for today.

“You have to price sharply,” said Sandy Hatzis, sales representative with Re/Max Real Estate Centre Inc. “This is not the market to be testing the number.” Ms. Hatzis said sellers are having to adjust their expectations. “There are really great deals to be had. Unfortunately, the buyers also have to sell their home,” she said, a reality that often puts both buyer and seller in the same boat. “It’s tough for those who purchased high and put in renos,” she said.

Down 27 per cent

9 Huron Dr., Brighton, Ont.

Asking price: $649,900

Encompassing a wide swath of mainly rural communities along Lake Ontario between Toronto and Kingston, Northumberland Hills is a neighbour to popular and touristy Prince Edward County and also the large Canadian Forces Base Trenton. Between 2022 and today, the median detached home price fell 27 per cent from $882,900 to $640,900. In practice, the drop-off may be even steeper.

“A 30-per-cent reduction in prices would be a good average across the board,” said Diana Scott, a listing agent with Royal LePage ProAlliance Realty. “That’s hard for people to stomach.” She has clients selling a well-maintained four-bedroom split-level home, listed for close to the new median price. But prices in the area are very dependent on the location; for example, the waterfront is always in demand, she said.

At one time, there were a lot of retirees shopping in Northumberland, but there have been fewer ever since the pandemic-era buying surge accelerated retirement plans for many. “The people that might have been moving now – they already moved,” Ms. Scott said.

Down 26 per cent

84 South Oval, Hamilton, Ont.

Asking price: $849,000

The sellers of this five-bedroom house near McMaster University, reconfigured for student rentals, face the added difficulty of looking for a buyer with existing tenants underfoot. The local market is also adjusting to the new lower price threshold, says Nikki Vrba, broker with Re/Max Escarpment Realty Inc. “We’ve had 30 showings,” she said. “Our roadblock is that there have been a lot of sales in the $820,000 to $830,000 range that are comparable.”

Four years ago, any house in the same Westdale neighbourhood could expect offers over $1-million, she said. That aligns with CREA’s Hamilton-Burlington submarket statistics that put detached homes at about $1,138,000 in 2022 and around $836,200 today, or 26 per cent lower. Still, it could be worse in dollar terms. “I did a power of sale recently in Burlington, Ms. Vrba said. “The sellers paid $1.775-million; I ended up selling it for $1.230-million for the bank. The prices were so inflated.”