Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC

COLDWELL BANKER REAL ESTATE RELEASES ANNUAL LIST OF MOST EXPENSIVE AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING MARKETS

$2 Million Difference Between Four-Bedroom Homes In North America's Most Expensive vs. Most Affordable Communities.

La Jolla, CA tops North America at over $2.1 million US; Vancouver leads Canada. 56 International markets studied; Singapore Most Expensive Foreign Market

Burlington, ON (Sept. 23, 2009) – The 2009 Coldwell Banker^® Home Price Comparison Index (HPCI) released today found a price gap of more than $2 million between the most expensive and most affordable North American markets for the studied 2,200 square foot home. In the annual comparison of similar homes in 345 North American markets, La Jolla, Calif. led the list as the most expensive real estate market on the continent with an average home price of $2,125,000 US. Vancouver, BC placed tenth on the North American most expensive list at $1,174,241 US (1,262,624 CDN) topping the 35 Canadian markets studied. Grayling, Mich., was North America's most affordable market, on eof 20 similarly priced communities on the most affordable list. Canada's most affordable major market Charlottetown, PEI was narrowly edged out of the North American top ten most affordable markets. A similarly sized home there costs only $147,560 US (158,667 CDN).

Internationally, Singapore, $1.9 million US dollars, was the most expensive market for the same type of home compared with Salinas, Ecuador, which at $69,375 U.S dollars, was the most affordable studied international market.

Differing from most housing reports that compare median prices, the annual Coldwell Banker HPCI, provides an apples-to-apples comparison of similar 2,200 square foot, four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath homes in Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico, and a sampling of 56 countries/territories outside of North America where Coldwell Banker Real Estate has a presence.

”While Canadian home prices have been on the rise again following a brief market downturn, today's historically low interest rates have kept the dream of homeownership within reach for most of today's homebuyers," says John Geha, president of Coldwell Banker Canada Operations ULC. "it is particularly interesting to compare the affordability levels now seen across North America and other global centers. Compared to many major markets throughout the world, Canadian realestate looks like a bargain."

The study's 4-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath home is what would typically be sought for middle management corporate transferees. "It's what we call the aspirational home' and is usually purchased by move up buyers experiencing lifestyle changes," explains Geha. "Despite record-breaking prices in many of Canada's major markets, these homes are selling, as buyers take advantage of today's historically low interest rates. These move-up buyers have been a critical component in our resurgent real estate market, and will continue to play a major role in Canada's recovering economy."

A “Snapshot” of Home Affordability
Offering a “snapshot” of affordability across North America, the Coldwell Banker HPCI evaluates average home values for select 2,200 square foot single-family homes with four bedrooms, two-and-one-half baths.¹ in 345 markets across Canada and the United States

Through the comprehensive HPCI section on the Coldwell Banker web site (http://hpci.coldwellbanker.com), prospective homebuyers and sellers can calculate what similar homes may be worth in other areas and gather preliminary intelligence about the affordability of housing from one market to another. For purposes of comparison, all prices on the international study are expressed in US dollars.

2009 Coldwell Banker HPCI – Highlights and Top Market Lists

"Aspirational Home" Still in Reach as Canadian Prices Reach Record Levels: Canada's brief real estate downturn is over, with record prices now seen throughout the resurgent market. But historically low interest rates still continue to fuel the demand for move-up homes
- Vancouver, BC leads the hot-again west coast at over $1.17 million US ($1.26 million CDN) dollars for the studied home, nearly double that of nearby Burnaby, BC at $611,243 US ($657,250 CDN).
- Boomtown Fort McMurray at $593,340 US ($638,000 CDN) surpasses both Calgary at $488,831 US ($525,525 CDN) and Edmonton at $401,993 US ($432,250 CDN) as Alberta's most expensive market.
- East meets West, as Winnipeg, MB with $363,042 US ($390,368 CDN), Saskatoom, SK at $355,237 US ($381,975 CDN), ; Whitehorse, YTSt. John's, NF $324,338 US ($348,750 CDN) all post 'aspirational home' prices in the mid to upper $300,000s
- Canada's largest city, Toronto, Ontario comes in at $766,643 US ($824,347 CDN)
- Charlottetown, PEI remains the country's most affordable market, priced at $147,560 US ($158,667 CDN). Brantford, ON at $222,968 US ($239,750 CDN), Moncton, NB at $256,843 ($276,175 CDN), and Halifax, NS at $257,891 US ($277,302 CDN) were some of the other more affordable Canadian markets in the study.

Low Cost to Home Ownership in American Midwest: Including Charlottetown, PEI there are 85 North American markets in which the sample home price averages under$200,000 US. The most affordable homes in North America are centered primarily in the American Midwest. A 5% down payment for a home in this price range could amount to less than $10,000.

Luxury Living: La Jolla, Calif. heads the list as the most expensive real estate market on the continent, beating out its California neighbor Beverly Hills, where the average home costs $1,981,750. Greenwich, Conn., with an average price of $1,519,250 US for the studied home placed as the most expensive market on the East Coast. Vancouver BC at $1,174,241 US ($1,262,625 CDN) was the only Canadian market to exceed the million dollar mark. In total, 12 North American markets exceeded the $1 million US average price for hte surveyed home. Note: Manhattan in New York City was not included in the study because of the lack of comparable single-family homes.

Most Expensive Internationally: The most expensive market outside North America is Singapore, where an HPCI subject home averages $1.9 million U.S. dollars, more than $630,000 higher than Vancouver. Singapore was followed by Milan and Florence, respectively, each with prices surpassing $1.6 million US for the subject home. Coldwell Banker charts a total of 28 countries outside of Canada and the U.S.

Table 1
The top 10 most expensive and most affordable surveyed North American markets overall in 2009 are:

Rank	Most Expensive	2009 Avg. Sales Price	Most Affordable	2009 Avg. Sales Price
1	La Jolla, Calif.	$2,125,000	Grayling, Mich.	$112,675
2	Beverly Hills, Calif.	$1,981,750	Akron, Ohio	$121,885
3	Greenwich, Conn.	$1,519,250	Fayetteville, N.C.	$130,875
4	Palo Alto, Calif.	$1,489,726	Canton, Ohio	$131,867
5	Santa Monica, Calif.	$1,460,912	Detroit, Mich.	$132,000
6	San Francisco, Calif.	$1,363,250	Arlington, Texas	$138,775
7	Boston, Mass.	$1,337,578	Macon, Ga.	$139,007
8	Newport Beach, Calif.	$1,315,505	Eau Claire, Wis.	$141,270
9	Palos Verdes, Calif.	$1,237,041	Port Charlotte, Fla.	$142,750
10	Vancouver, B.C.	$1,174,241	Wichita, Kans.	$144,625

Table 2
The most expensive and most affordable markets (in CDN dollars) within each Province in Canada are:

Province	Most Expensive	2009 Avg. Sales Price	Most Affordable	2009 Avg. Sales Price	*Variance*
ALBERTA	Fort McMurray	$638,000	Edmonton	$432,250	$205,750
BRITISH COLUMBIA	Vancouver	$1,262,625	Burnaby	$657,250	$605,375
MANITOBA	Winnipeg $390,368*
NEW BRUNSWICK	Moncton $276,175 *
NEWFOUNDLAND	St. John's $348,750 *
NOVA SCOTIA	Halifax $277,302 *
ONTARIO	Toronto	$824,347	Brantford	$239,750	$584,597
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND	Charlottetown $158,667*
QUEBEC	Montreal $469,250 *
SASKATCHEWAN	Saskatoon $381,975 *
YUKON	Whitehorse $367,500 *

* Only one market included in the study.

Table 3
All surveyed Candian markets in 2009:

Market	Province or Territory	2009 Avg. Sales Price in CDN	2009 Avg. Sales Price in US	*Housing Index*
Calgary	AB		$488,831	124
Edmonton	AB	$432,250	$401,993	102
Fort McMurray	AB	$638,000	$593,340	150
Burnaby	BC	$657,250	$611,243	155
Kelowna	BC	$444,475	$413,362	105
Vancouver	BC	$1,262,625	$1,174,241	298
Victoria	BC	$663,000	$616,590	156
Winnipeg	MB	$390,368	$363,042	92
Moncton	NB	$276,175	$256,843	65
St. John's	NF	$348,750	$324,338	82
Halifax	NS	$277,302	$257,891	65
Barrie	ON	$295,000	$274,350	70
Brantford	ON	$239,750	$222,968	57
Burlington	ON	$464,025	$431,543	109
Collingwood	ON	$290,000	$269,700	68
Greater Hamilton	ON	$346,375	$322,129	82
Huntsville	ON	$340,000	$316,200	80
Kitchener	ON	$350,000	$325,500	83
Lindsay	ON	$243,100	$226,083	57
London	ON	$363,500	$338,055	86
Mississauga	ON	$443,333	$412,300	105
Newmarket	ON	$385,000	$358,050	91
Oakville	ON	$469,500	$436,682	111
Oshawa	ON	$360,151	$287,510	73
Ottawa	ON	$360,650	$335,405	85
Port Perry	ON	$363,250	$337,823	86
Scarborough	ON	$481,750	$448,028	114
St. Catharines	ON	$333,333	$310,000	$79
Toronto	ON	$824,347	$766,643	$194
Waterloo	ON	$400,833	$372,775	95
Windsor	ON	$244,000	$226,920	58
Charlottetown	PE	$158,667	$147,560	37
Montreal	PQ	$469,250	$436,403	111
Saskatoon	SK	$381,975	$355,237	90
Whitehorse	YT	$367,500	$341,775	87

Table 4
All Surveyed international markets 2009:

Country	Most Expensive	2009 Avg. Sales Price in U.S.
Aruba	Aruba	$314,000
Australia	Brisbane	$217,071
Bahamas	Nassau	$458,906
Belize	San Pedro	$244,300
Bermuda	Hamilton	$1,348,813
Cayman Islands	Cayman Islands	$526,250
China	Shanghai	$1,386,750
	Chongqing	$340,776
Colombia	Pereira	$151,884
	Bogota	$182,926
	Cartagena	$454,102
Costa Rica	Escazu	$293,750
I	Heredia	$265,000
	Jaco Beach	$385,500
	San Jose	$269,500
Ecuador	Guayaquil	$101,250
	Samborondon	$154,250
	Salinas	$69,375
Egypt	Cairo	$273,393
	6th October	$859,625
Guatemala	Guatemala City	$207,175
Honduras	Roatan	$299,500
	San Pedro	$220,000
	Tegucigalpa	$228,166
Indonesia	Bandung	$112,367
	South Jakarta	$494,252
	Tangerang	$146,551
Ireland	Cork	$534,360
	Dublin	$1,127,843
	Galway	$746,874
italy	Florence	$1,612,224
	Rome	$1,261,740
	Milan	$1,636,758
Lebanon	Beirut	$512,000
Mexico	Mexico City	$207,020
	Monterrey	$188,435
Nicaragua	Granada	$239,750
	Managua	221,000
Panama	Panama City	$239,750
Romania	Ploiesti	$402,778
	Brasov	$300,764
	Bucuresti	$1,371,528
Singapore	Singapore	$1,898,500
St. Croix	Christiansted	$602,500
Turkey	Istanbul	$669,000
	Ankara	$351,000
	Gaziantep	$173,500
	Izmir	$315,000

Turks and Caicos	Providencialies	$872,225
United Arab Emirates	Dubai	$1,077,703
Venezuela	Caracas	$165,615
	Maracaibo	$118,461
	Porlamar	151,653
Vietnam	Ho Chi Min City	$341,099
	Hanoi	$166,470
	DaNang	$172,900

Methodology – 2009 Coldwell Banker^® Home Price Comparison Index:
Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC conducts its Home Price Comparison Index study by compiling survey data from Coldwell Banker offices throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada and a sampling of other countries where the Coldwell Banker system has a market presence. Companies within the Coldwell Banker system submit data based on the average sales price of comparable listings through July 2009, a comparative market analysis of homes previously evaluated for the 2008 HPCI. The criteria for the HPCI subject home is: single-family dwelling, 2,200 square feet (approximately) four bedrooms, two and one-half baths, family room (or equivalent) and two-car garage in neighborhoods/zip codes within a market that is typical for corporate middle-management transferees.

1 2,200 square feet was the baseline figure used as size criteria for the HPCI subject homes. However, it is possible that in certain markets the size of the subject homes varied.

2 The Canadian dollar to U.S. dollar conversion rate was $.93. The date of conversion was 9/15, and http://www.bank-banque-canada.ca was used to convert the figures.
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(Canada) 2009 Home Price Comparison Index Released