Real estate study: $1 million can buy a mansion or teardown

A million-dollar mansion in Canada might be anything but that, according to a report released Monday by a Canadian real estate company.

Royal LePage said that while $1 million can score a renovated four-bedroom, waterfront home in Halifax, it might only buy a smaller fixer-upper in Vancouver’s suburbs.

Toronto’s million-dollar market was a bit more accessible than Vancouver’s, according to the report, with deals on two-storey starter homes in “up-and-coming neighbourhoods,” especially outside the downtown core in regions such as Ajax, Pickering, Milton, Mississauga and Brampton.

Though not included in Royal LePage’s report, Victoria’s market offers a variety of homes with a $1-million pricetag. But they are certainly not mansions.

In the desirable Fairfield neighbourhood, $998,000 will get you a 1955 home with 1,900 square feet of living space that is in need of updating, while a 1912 home with four bedrooms with a bit of an ocean view near Ross Bay Cemetery just sold for $1.05 million.

Like many cities if you look a little further afield in Victoria than its real estate hot spots, you get more for your money, such as a spacious and immaculate threebedroom and three-bathroom home, built in 2004, that just sold for $1.005 million.

The report said Winnipeg delivers the best bang for the millionaire’s buck, where it bought an average of four bedrooms and four bathrooms.

Saskatoon offered the largest property lot size for $1 million, where the report said homes for that price were virtually unheard of a decade ago.

The study examined twostorey homes in seven Canadian markets in January 2017.

“There are striking differences in the options available for those who are looking to purchase a $1-million two-storey home in Canada,” Dianne Usher, senior vice-president of Johnston and Daniel, a division of Royal LePage, said in a statement.

“However, significant value can still be found in the suburbs or city-centres like Saskatoon and Montreal, where homes are more affordable, landing you substantially more home with better features as a result.”

Alberta’s recent economic downturn is good for buyers — and bad for sellers — in Calgary. The report said purchasers looking for $1 million two-storey properties in that city get about the same value they did 10 years ago.

In January 2017, the average property selling for $1 million in Calgary had 3.3 bedrooms, 2.8 bathrooms, 2,477 square feet of living area and a lot size of 7,004 square feet.

In Toronto 10 years ago, the report said buyers got a lot more for seven figures. Home searches in the $1-million price range in 2007 often produced larger, fully upgraded homes in prominent areas like Rosedale, Leaside and Lawrence Park.

It said Montreal’s prices have been rising since 2007, but the city still offered a substantial amount of home for $1 million.

The profile of a $1-million buyer was also found to vary by region. Developers and first-time buyers dominated the $1-million two-storey property segment in Canada’s largest metropolitan areas. Wealthy young to middleaged professional couples with children acted as the predominant purchasers elsewhere.