Housing affordability in Canada has been a growing concern for many people looking to buy homes due to the increasing prices of properties. While the average price of homes has fallen year-over-year, prices in most major cities have increased for four months in a row, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). As a result, people are looking for alternative investment options that offer more value for their money.
Recently, a TikTok user with the username Millennial Moron has been comparing the prices of Canadian homes to other options like European castles and private islands. In one video, he compares a two-bedroom property in Toronto’s Kensington neighbourhood costing $2,850,000 to a $2,852,340 20-bedroom castle situated on five acres of land in Scotland. The castle, known as Orchardton Castle, has 45 rooms, a cinema, library, over 30 fireplaces, and three full self-contained flats. It also boasts botanic gardens, woodland, a large pond and paddock, a stable block, and a private beach.
Millennial Moron also compared the price of a two-bedroom house in Kitchener, Ontario listed at $1.8M to a $1,850,000 lake-facing Swedish castle on nearly four acres of land. The listing for the Swedish castle noted that it was an opportunity to get involved and break ground in one of Ontario’s fastest-growing and “hip” communities in the region.
In another video amassing over 700,000 views, Millennial Moron compared a three-bedroom house listed at $4,600,000 in Vancouver’s Grandview-Woodland neighbourhood to a $4.4 million castle in Otterbun, England. If a buyer were to purchase the property in Grandview-Woodland to rebuild on the land, they would only be allowed to construct a duplex as per the zoning laws. Contrarily, the Otterbun Castle sits on 32 acres of land and has 22,000 square feet of living space, including 17 en-suite bedrooms.
These comparisons reflect the growing divide between the housing market and everyday Canadians, who are unable to afford the high prices of homes in Canada’s major cities. “We are, at the end of the day, in an affordability crisis and we have to wake up,” said CIBC deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal in an interview with The Financial Post. As a result, some are turning to unique investment opportunities like castles and private islands to get more value for their money.
