Quesnel and Williams Lake are the two most affordable small towns in BC when it comes to buying a home.
That according to a survey done by Zolo Homebase.
Romana King is the Director of Content.
“First of all we look at housing affordability in terms of the average price, how much does it cost for the average home in that city ? The next thing we’re going to look at is what is the average income a family is going to earn ? You can’t buy or make a mortgage payment if you don’t have any money in order to pay that, so you want gainful employment.”
King says other factors are if the city growing economically, and if the unemployment rate relatively low.
As for what her group does with this information, King says it is designed to help people decide where they want to live.
“We put this information out there to help people that are in the market, but not quite sure what to do, make better decisions. So at no time do I suggest that people take this list and buy based on a list, but what I do want people to do is take the list and narrow down their choices.”
King says it can become overwhelming if you look at all of BC and all of the small towns in BC, but if you have a top 10 list of all the small towns in BC, suddenly that investigation of where would be a good place to live becomes a lot more manageable.
Quesnel was first in BC out of towns with a population under 30,000 people, while Williams Lake was second.
- Quesnel: Taking into account median income and housing prices, economic health and opportunities, and time-to-buy metrics, Quesnel makes the top of our list as BC’s most affordable city. At the confluence of the Quesnel and Fraser rivers, the city is known for its scenery, its variety of sports teams and leagues, its two university campuses offering four-year degrees, and its heritage as a gold mining settlement. Housing prices for Quesnel are considerably lower than many of the other cities on this list, at only $369,000. Combined with mean income figures just shy of $95k and a household time-to-buy score of 3.89, it’s no wonder prospective buyers are flocking to the area. To take the best advantage of the new trends sweeping the BC housing market, Quesnel is the obvious choice.
- Williams Lake: An old milling town in the Central Interior, Williams Lake is now known for its hockey teams and annual festival of rodeo sports and attractions, the Williams Lake Stampede. With housing prices just under $430k, Williams Lake still boasts mean income figures approaching 100k per year. As a result, its household time-to-buy score is low, at only 4.4. Williams Lake also hosts a sister campus for Thompson Rivers University and offers degrees in health, trades, and tech. This, along with the regular festivities and sports, gives Williams Lake a friendly and social atmosphere, but with a unique rustic charm.
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