What a $500,000 Home Looks Like Across Canada in December 2024

By Josh Sherman | 6 minute read

A selection of images from listings for Canadian homes for less than $500,000.

Canadian homes don’t come cheap. Taken as a whole, Canada has some of the highest housing costs in the developed world, a fact experts attribute to a pronounced imbalance between supply and demand.

However, just like the country’s rolling natural landscape, prices across the country vary greatly and are generally much lower outside of the Greater Toronto and Vancouver Areas. Using $500,000 as a benchmark, we scanned the Wahi listings in December 2024 to see what types of homes were available in different markets from coast to coast. As you’ll see, with a $500,000 budget it’s still possible to find listings that include multiple bedrooms, a yard, and other qualities many Canadians desire in a home. Check out the listings below the banner.

1. Listing: 345 Falshire Dr., Calgary

List price: $465,000

We’ll start off with a solid starter home. It should check all (or at least most of) the boxes for the typical Canadian homebuyer. It’s a detached three-bedroom home in a suburban neighbourhood — all three of which are preferences indicated in Wahi’s recent Great Canadian Dream Home Survey, which ask Canadians about the qualities they look for in a property.

The clean, well-lighted living room makes a strong first impression with wood flooring and a sleek fireplace mantel. The kitchen has brand new cabinets and conveniently lets out onto a sizable backyard. While the back deck could use a little TLC, it’s not hard to see the yard’s potential as a family-friendly amenity.

2. Listing: 20543 99B Ave. NW, Edmonton

List price: $465,000

The results of the Great Canadian Dream Home Survey also suggest Canadians want turnkey properties, and it doesn’t get much more move-in ready than this new build. The approximately 1,500-square-foot home is located in a recently completed community and has a contemporary open-concept layout. A tasteful statement wall helps the main living space shine. Upstairs, you’ll find three well-sized bedrooms. The primary bedroom comes with a full ensuite, including a glass waterfall shower. 

Completed in 2022, the home shouldn’t require any upgrades for the foreseeable future. Though the basement is unfinished, it was designed with a separate entrance, opening the door to an additional fourth bedroom for a growing family or possible rental income as an apartment in the future.

3. Listing: 104 Swanson Cres., Fort McMurray

List price: $469,900

One disadvantage to living in smaller towns and cities is it usually means more limited employment opportunities, but as an oil town, Fort McMurray is an exception. Not only that, but despite having a strong local economy fueled by the natural-resources industry, Fort McMurray’s real estate market remains in reach for many. Case in point: this approximately 1,300-square-foot detached home.

New kitchen appliances, wood flooring throughout, and a gas fireplace are a few of the perks incorporated in the expansive main living space. The large primary bedroom is a highlight. It includes a completely redesigned ensuite with a floating vanity and sleek black-trimmed glass shower.

4. Listing: 140 Heritage Hills Dr., Halifax

List price: $465,000

Here’s a home that lives up to the name of the street it’s situated on. While not a true heritage house, the three-bedroom detached home at 140 Heritage Hills Dr. should appeal to those who appreciate character. Rustic farmhouse-style touches include a wood-plank banister in the entryway and a sliding barn door into the primary ensuite’s walk-in closet.

The price may seem like a bargain to buyers from costlier locales — and if it doesn’t, how about another detached home from the area listed for less than $400,000 — but this is no fixer upper. In fact, the kitchen and two bathrooms have been entirely redone, as has the heating system.

5. Listing: 115 Division St., Ottawa

List price: $475,000

As far as big Canadian cities go, it’s tough to beat Ottawa for affordability. Despite once being roughly the same as Toronto in terms of home prices relative to local incomes, the market is now considerably more affordable by any measure. 

If you need convincing, here’s a three-bedroom detached home listed well below the median price for a GTA condo ($630,000, as of November). The charming red-brick home sits on a large lot less than a half-hour from downtown Ottawa. On the main floor, there’s an airy common area, wood-accented kitchen. and a bathroom. There’s also a bedroom or home office, depending on need. Above, there are two more spacious bedrooms, with a bathroom for each. 

6. Listing: 155 Dalhousie St., Unit 640, Toronto

List price: $499,000

If you’re in the market for a sub-$500,000 home in Toronto, your best — and likely only bet — is the condo segment. The good news for buyers right now is condo market conditions are heavily in their favour. In November, 72% of the condos that changed hands did so for below-asking. Better news? This sweet one-bedroom-plus-den hard loft in a former downtown warehouse.

Roughly 600 square feet, the unit has soaring 12-foot ceilings, polished concrete floors, and industrial finishes that hint at the building’s former use as a department-store warehouse. What the home lacks in size it makes up for in communal amenities — the building boasts a full gym, rooftop barbecue area, saltwater pool, sauna, and basketball court, as well as separate rooms for games and parties. Before you get too excited, check out our guide to purchasing a unit in a converted building. 

7. Listing: 120 D’ambrosio Dr., Unit 36, Barrie

List price: $465,000

If you’re set on a house around the GTA but don’t have the budget, try looking just outside the region’s borders in a place like Barrie. Besides being one of the safest cities in Canada, Barrie is a place where you can find a stunning stacked townhouse like this one listed for less than $500,000. The two-bedroom dwelling provides more than 1,000 square feet of living space, two bedrooms, a garage, and some outdoor space in the form of a second-floor terrace.

8. Listing: 489 Sherbrooke St., Peterborough

List price: $479,900

Travel a little farther outside the GTA and the dream of a detached home can become reality. In Peterborough — a popular bedroom community for those who work in the eastern GTA — we find a painstakingly renovated single-family home on a massive 48-by-236-foot lot.

The open-concept kitchen has been redone with quartz countertops and stainless-steel appliances, and off the kitchen there’s a spacious family room with even more entertaining space. Upstairs, you’ll find three bedrooms, while a fourth could be set up later in the unfinished basement. Although the basement wasn’t gutted during the reno, practically everything else was. The turnkey home has new electrical, plumbing, and air-conditioning systems.  

9. Listing: 53 West Hastings St., Unit 503, Vancouver

List price: $499,900

Like in Toronto, condos are starter homes for many in Vancouver. Also like in Toronto, you could bid on a hard loft for around $500,000, as this approximately 700-square-foot abode proves. Located in a rebuilt shoe manufacturing facility that dates back to 1908, this loft has got 10-foot ceilings, exposed brick (even in the bathroom), polished concrete floors and a completely modern kitchen.

One thing the unit doesn’t come with is a bedroom, although the floorplan is such that there’s room off the kitchen for sleeping quarters, or you could invest in a Murphy bed to maximize space. An added plus: the building, known as Paris Block, only contains a handful of units, which means it’s highly private (for a condo) and you won’t be waiting around long for the elevator.

10. Listing: 828 Pilot St., Prince George

List price: $499,800

Head to B.C.’s interior for improved affordability. In Prince George, one of the region’s major cities, a four-bedroom detached home is on the market for the price of a Vancouver condo.

The property backs onto a school and has a well-maintained yard with a stone patio, wheelchair-accessible deck, children’s play area, garden, and separate garage. If there’s one concession, it may be the decidedly retro ‘70s basement, though it is finished and makes for a cozy den complete with an era-appropriate bar.