Fredericton, New Brunswick
Benchmark housing price: $304,500
Population: 63,116
Homes on the East Coast are generally cheaper than in Canada’s largest urban centres, but any Maritimer will tell you that this statistic comes with an important caveat: on average, incomes are often lower, which can make life just as unaffordable. Fredericton is one of the Atlantic Canadian real estate market’s last-standing loopholes: the median house price is a manageable $304,000, but the city’s residents have the highest income per capita in the province.
The cost of real estate has already nearly doubled in Fredericton since 2019, but a handful of building incentives are poised to supercharge supply and stabilize prices. The city has issued more than $500 million worth of construction permits since 2022, meant to densify the city with nearly 700 new townhouses and apartment units. Neighbourhoods on the rise include Marysville, a collection of brick duplexes and detached homes popular with families and retirees; Nashwaaksis in the north end, full of detached starter homes and apartment buildings; and Southwood Park, an enclave of two-storey, half-century-old houses and duplex bungalows shrouded in greenery and just south of the Saint John River and Lincoln Trail.
Fredericton is much more than its Victorian skyline. Locals come together at the Fredericton Boyce Farmer’s Market and the Garrison Night Market, and the city is renowned for its Playhouse theatre and recently revamped Beaverbrook Art Gallery. Fredericton has also built itself into a four-seasons activities hub: it has 130 kilometres of trails passing through Odell Park and along the Saint John River, and Crabbe Mountain becomes a staple for skiing through the winter.
The cheap real estate and cultural attractions have drawn some 17,000 people to Fredericton in the last decade. Many residents work in the public sector or in the town’s rich higher education network: Fredericton is home to four universities and colleges, including the University of New Brunswick, the province’s largest post-secondary institution. And while the city’s self-anointed title of “start-up capital of Canada” sounds a tad ambitious, the city does have tech jobs aplenty: it’s the birthplace of security company Q1 Labs, which IBM bought for $680 million, and social media analytics company Radian6, which sold to Salesforce.
Recently Listed
97 Murray Avenue
Price tag: $349,900
The place: A two-bedroom Victorian-style home in north Fredericton with a wraparound porch, eat-in kitchen and hardwood floors
234 Westdale Avenue
Price tag: $649,900
The place: A four-bedroom home on a double lot with a large kitchen and proximity to the soon-to-be-built McAdam elementary school
