"Fiscally conservative socialism" in Canada has made them richer than Americans

[rgG]

Lemon Drop wrote:
Just as in the US, housing costs will vary widely depending upon which part of Canada you're in. The west coast/BC area is the most expensive part of Canada, by far. Canada did not experience the real estate collapse that continues to plague our own market, but they've come down in the past year.

I travel to Vancouver fairly often and I LOVE that city, but it's also very pricey. A small house in a good neighborhood can run you over $1 million. Fantastic quality of life and mild weather.
There is some good info here on comparative housing costs around Canada:

http://www.livingin-canada.com/house-prices-canada.html

Yeah, it looks like unless you are willing to live in the boonies, buying a house in Canada is a lot more expensive than in the U.S.

[Avenger]

It is interesting that high taxes are often credited for "fantastic quality of life" until they want to live there themselves; i.e. start paying the same taxes, at which time the good old USA start looking pretty good.

[OWC Jamie]

rgG wrote:
[quote=Lemon Drop]
Just as in the US, housing costs will vary widely depending upon which part of Canada you're in. The west coast/BC area is the most expensive part of Canada, by far. Canada did not experience the real estate collapse that continues to plague our own market, but they've come down in the past year.

I travel to Vancouver fairly often and I LOVE that city, but it's also very pricey. A small house in a good neighborhood can run you over $1 million. Fantastic quality of life and mild weather.
There is some good info here on comparative housing costs around Canada:

http://www.livingin-canada.com/house-prices-canada.html

Yeah, it looks like unless you are willing to live in the boonies, buying a house in Canada is a lot more expensive than in the U.S.

I don't think you're supposed to be analyzing net wealth or the big picture.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/newcomers/before-cost.asp

[Lemon Drop]

Canadians have a higher rate of home ownership than Americans, and yet Canadians cannot deduct mortgage interest on their taxes.
They must be doing something right, since more of them can afford homes.

[Pops]

How has the Canadian "one percent" been doing the last 15 years? Do they own as much of Canada's wealth as our American one percent does?

[hal]

great question - I'd like to find out...

and I found this out...

If you earn $405k/yr - you're in the 1%

the top 0.01% kicks in in at $620k/yr (probably meant 0.1%) - said to be 2500 people... and a good number of those are in the NHL - really...

http://www.richardcleaver.com/2011/11/18...in-canada/

[didn't do any more work to verify these numbers...]

[the_poochies]

Being a hockey fan, the Canadians certainly have better taste in sports that us Americans, but what do I know, eh? :biggrin:

[hal]

the_poochies wrote:
Being a hockey fan, the Canadians certainly have better taste in sports that us Americans, but what do I know, eh? :biggrin:

that's very, very true... until you address curling...

[August West]

For US housing:
The median sales price of new houses sold in May 2012 was $234,500; the average sales price was $273,900. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of May was 145,000. This represents a supply of 4.7 months at the current sales rate.

For Canadian housing:
The average price for homes sold in June was C$369,339 ($362,097) on a national basis, down 0.8 per cent from the same month last year, with Vancouver prices falling 13.3 percent from June 2011.

Just a note, might want to be sure that the median and the average are a comparable comparison, as opposed to median and mean.

However, I have to agree with you. I looked to purchase in Vancouver, to escape the high SF prices, and I was mildly shocked.

[voodoopenguin]

Avenger wrote:
Not just Canada. Shortly, I will have the privilege of sampling $5 a can Coke again. Almost everywhere is more expensive than the US. If it wasn't about constant harping on high taxes, we'd be there too.

So you're not coming to visit us then? Our house prices are high but at least a can of coke is nothing like $5....quick check and conversion...looks like 75 cents or 50 cents if bought in bulk (24). Where are you going?

Paul