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Kingston, Ontario, is a thriving city with a lively university-town feel. Its bustling downtown is home to an eclectic restaurant scene with plenty of attractive outdoor patio seating, as well as art venues, craft breweries, and local artisanal businesses. Several farmer’s markets feature meats, produce, maple syrup, and honey from the city’s large surrounding rural area.
A short drive north takes you into the countryside, where you can explore some of Canada’s most beautiful lakes and experience world-class sailing. To the west, explore Prince Edward County by bike or take a tour of the region’s many wineries.
Nicknamed “The Limestone City” because of its many historical limestone buildings, Kingston is a city with a rich history. Just off one of Canada’s major highways, Kingston’s clean and charming downtown, excellent schools, reliable public transport, and burgeoning real estate market make it an excellent choice for those looking to settle down, raise a family, or start a business.
Kingston real estate prices have been trending upward for the last five years, with a major boom fueled by the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Prices are expected to rise 9.2% in 2022 as demand continues to exceed supply. The median price for a home in 2022 is expected to increase to an estimated $639,141 - up from $581,037 in 2021. 49% of all Canadians expect the housing market to remain stable through 2022.
Until recently, Kingston was considered too far away from the Greater Toronto Area to be a viable living option for those working there. However, as the increase in remote working options has pushed people out of city centers and into surrounding areas, Kingston and towns like it have become more attractive to young professionals. Additionally, out-of-town investors looking for rental and investment properties have flocked to Kingston to take advantage of its lower price point.
After the remarkable growth witnessed in 2020 and 2021, it’s possible that supply challenges, coupled with rising interest rates, could slow sales and price growth in 2022. Out-of-town buyers will continue to drive demand.
Kingston Transit runs an excellent bus system, servicing the urban areas of Kingston and the neighbouring community of Amherstview via 23 routes, seven days a week. Additional routes are also added during peak traffic hours. If you need a long distance option, Coach Canada provides service to Montreal and Ottawa.
Kingston lies halfway between Ottawa and Toronto, about a 3-hour drive from each major hub. Highway 401 skirts along the northern edge of town, while Highways 2 and 33 run through the city center. The city is connected to the ViaRail system mainline and is a main stop between Toronto and Ottawa and Toronto and Montreal. Regular ferries operate between downtown Kingston and Wolfe Island. Seasonal ferry service from Cape Vincent offers a route in and out of the US.
Kingston has a diverse economy, with the private sector accounting for about half of all employment. The most active public sectors are health care, government (including military operations), tourism, and higher education. The current major employers in the city are The Canadian Forces Base Kingston, Queen’s University, and Providence Care Hospital.
Tourism in Kingston has been growing steadily and is becoming one of the city’s top-performing economic sectors. Campaigns like Downtown Kingston! and Yellow Door, as well as festivals like the Limestone City Blues Festival, attract thousands of visitors each year.
The variety of educational opportunities in Kingston is second to none. Kingston is home to three higher education institutions: Queen’s University, the Royal Military College of Canada, and St. Lawrence College. There are two English and two French public elementary school boards providing K-12 education, and numerous private schools that cater to a variety of needs.
The rent to own a home program is a great way to get your foot in the door in the Kingston real estate market. Even if you lack the money for a down payment or have other concerns such as credit score, our rent to own Kingston program can set you on the path to achieving your investment and homeownership dreams.
Let’s say you’re financially stable but currently lack the money to make a down payment on a home. In this case, you have two options:
Continue to rent while saving money for the next few years until you are able to afford the down payment. In this scenario, none of the money spent on rent will be invested in the property, and you will also have to contend with the increasing price of houses in the area (forecast to be 9.2% for the coming year.)
That means if you have your eye on a home that costs $550,000 now, in three years it’s projected to cost around $720,000 (rounding up to a +10% price increase for the next three years.) A 20% down payment on that home in three years will be around $144,000.
Rent to own a home in Kingston through our rent to own program. When you rent to own in Kingston with Requity, we use a more modest 5% growth model to assess the value growth of your home.
Using the same example as in the previous scenario, this would mean that the value of your home in three years would be assessed as $632,500 rather than $720,000. A 20% down payment on that same home would be $126,5000, meaning a savings of $17,500!
Requity Homes offers a new path to homeownership by helping you live in your home dream today while saving up your down payment one month at a time. We want you to start living the way you always imagined. Our modern rent to own programs have helped people just like you realize their financial and investment goals through homeownership, regardless of their credit score or mortgage eligibility.
For more information about rent to own programs, check out this article. For tips on how to optimize your saving strategy and make the most of your money while saving for your down payment, check out this article.
