It’s no secret I love the Niagara region, and that I think it’s the best place to find your home in Ontario. I’ve done a blog series before about why the Niagara region beats Toronto. With the amazing year 2016 was for the Niagara real estate market, the perks of moving out of the GTA and into Niagara just keep going UP.
Parking perks
I’m sure you’ve heard it all before: there’s nowhere to park in Toronto. It seems like the number one complaint everyone has with the city. You can’t park anywhere for free, and depending on the season you’re hard pressed to find somewhere to pay for parking either.
In Niagara there’s ample parking for everything, and if you’re entertaining guests you don’t have to worry about them having to factor in paying for parking to come by your house.
Spend less
Anyway who goes to Toronto even for a weekend can tell you how expensive it is. For people who live there the cost is quite high. On average Niagara locals by about $2, 000 less on food costs than Torontonians, and the cost cutting doesn’t stop there.
Recreation and entertainment is huge in Toronto, and that’s what a lot of people will tell you is so great about the big city: there’s always something to do. Which might seem great at first, but your wallet takes a definite hit. It costs about $1, 000 more for the average Torontonian to take advantage of recreational activities in Toronto than what it costs the average person in Niagara.
Close to everything
Niagara is in one of the most perfect locations in Ontario for accessibility to everything. Toronto is about an hour and a half away, if you work in Toronto or still want to visit the big city occasionally. It’s also about forty minutes from Buffalo, a city full of shopping, sports, and entertainment.
The QEW is right here as well, which makes everything just a quick drive away. In Toronto, you have to spend lots of time sitting in traffic before you can even leave the city – and a lot of people get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of the city that they don’t often leave. Stepping outside of that bubble and moving to Niagara can give you a bit more of an appreciation for what’s outside the provincial capital.
Bigger houses, better prices
I’ve said before: living in Niagara is all about VALUE. I can’t stress enough how much more bang you’ll get for your buck living in this city. The average home in Toronto is smaller than the average home in Niagara, and usually goes for about double the price as a Niagara home.
And that’s if you can even afford to buy a home in Toronto, where the average price for a detached home is over $1 million. A lot of people in Toronto live in condos, and they’re are engaging in crazy bidding wars for them. Unlike Toronto, some of the cheapest detached homes on the market right now are located in the Niagara region.
More and more growth
The Niagara region is only continuing to grow. The city of St Catharines issued 383 permits for new homes in 2016 alone. By 2041 the population of the Niagara region is expected to grow to 610, 000. Most of this growth? Buyers from the GTA.
Entire subdivisions in the region are selling out before, and most of the new home and new condominium buyers are people relocating from Toronto for all the perks that Niagara has to offer.
