Best Places to Invest in Real Estate in Prince Edward Island 2021
The smallest province in Canada in terms of both size and population, Prince Edward Island (PEI) is its most densely populated province. The entire province only has about 160,000 residents, but its beautiful scenery and topography make it one of the hidden gems of the country. It’s one of Canada’s most important agricultural production centers, and it also is seeing a surge in more modern industries like aerospace and renewable energy. All of these factors add up to a place that should not be overlooked by real estate investors. There are some particular cities and towns that we recommend investors look into first if they’re interested in adding PEI properties to their portfolio.
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island’s capital and largest city, Charlottetown was the home of the Canadian Confederation in 1867. Since then, the city has continued to hold an important place in Canadian culture and history. While small by urban standards, with a population of just over 36,000, the city is an important center for PEI life.
The city’s economy is focused almost entirely on the government sector. Agencies ranging from federal to provincial to municipal are all main employers here and provide well-paying and stable jobs to many of the city’s residents. The city has also seen growth in health care and education, with more and more people taking these types of jobs as those fields continue their upward trend. The University of Prince Edward Island is one of the chief education employers, as it enlists many types of workers in service of its 4,700 students.
The real estate market in Charlottetown is suffering from a lack of inventory in the wake of COVID-19, which is the story in virtually every Canadian market as 2020 concludes. Prince Edward Island as a whole had been seeing major growth in housing construction throughout 2018 and 2019, but those had already started to decline before the coronavirus pandemic further depressed this growth.
Charlottetown prices were skyrocketing before the pandemic, with prices rising by 38.5 percent across 2018 and 2019. This price increase was largely attributed to immigrants arriving through the provincial nominee program. The flipside of this is that many of these folks don’t necessarily stay, but when they leave, they make a very good return on the housing that they had purchased when they first arrived.
This rise in prices has stagnated in the first half of 2020 when it comes to single-family homes, but condos and townhouses have surged in value, seeing growth in prices by 27.5 percent across Q2 and Q3 of 2020. All of this information creates a muddled picture of the market, but most projections have the Charlottetown market continuing drastic upswings in price, thanks to low inventory and several motivated buyers who are ready to purchase after the pandemic slowdown.
Summerside, Prince Edward Island
The city of Summerside is the second-largest city on Prince Edward Island, boasting a population of just about 15,000 people. Like Charlottetown, it relies heavily on government services for employment and its economic health. The Canada Revenue Agency is the single-largest employer in the city, but other businesses like Vector Aerospace Engine Services Atlantic, Testori Americas and Honeywell are all major aerospace and transportation companies that call the city home and provide both jobs and tax revenue. There are also large frozen foods plants that employ a large number of residents, so the economic picture in Summerside is diverse. This diversity is a positive sign for investors, as it means that there are several different price points at which one can enter this market.
The story here is the same as in Charlottetown and in virtually every real estate market in Canada – low inventory is making for higher prices. However, Summerside does have some opportunity for value. For starters, the cost of living here is low, which is reflected in low real estate prices. Even if prices are higher than they’ve historically been, there are still some chances here for investors who are not flush with capital to get involved in a market that shows signs of steady growth for years to come. Prince Edward Island in general is a popular destination for tourists and retirees, so the real estate outlook is strong.
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Stratford, Prince Edward Island
Many of Prince Edward Island’s smaller towns also have some enticing offerings for real estate investors. Stratford, located just southeast of Charlottetown, is the third-biggest municipality on PEI and its fastest-growing town. The surging population is a sign of a place where an investor can get in on the ground floor in a community that’s clearly on the rise. Almost 73 percent of the town’s residents reside in single-family homes, which is something that investors should also take into consideration.
Its growing population is attributed to both interprovincial and international migration (three of its most common languages after English and French are Chinese, Mandarin and Dutch), so the town is showing signs of becoming an even more culturally vibrant space. It plays host to many festivals and celebrations that capitalize on this status, so it’s a community-oriented place as well that is welcoming to all. Stratford is also helped by the fact that it has the lowest tax rates of any full-service community on Prince Edward Island – a factor that many real estate investors might overlook when considering where they’d like to invest their money.
Prince Edward Island’s greatest assets are its intimate size, its beautiful scenery and its diverse population of Canadians both native and recently arrived. The real estate market across the province is clearly showing signs of crawling out of the hole that the coronavirus inflicted on the entire country, and the savvy real estate investor will perform their own research to find value and the opportunity for sustained growth in many of PEI’s towns. Prices are rising, but with the right attitude and research approach, investors should be able to track down properties of reasonable value.
Real Estate Professionals in Prince Edward Island
We have searched high and low for real estate investing professionals in Prince Edward Island. Below, you can find professionals we have researched and can confirm they specialize in working with Real Estate Investors.
To ensure the maximum success in real estate investing in Prince Edward Island, or any city, you should always use professionals who understand and work with investors, your income depends on it.
This list may not fully list all the professionals in the area, but the ones we have personally investigated and that we would refer our clients to.
If you’re a real estate professional and would like us to consider adding you to the list, please contact us.
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