Choose a Canadian-dollar budget, compare estimated apartment-equivalent space across 50 cities on one heatmap, then browse photo-led modeled examples to put the gap in perspective.
Start with the heatmap to compare floor area on one shared scale. Then use the photo-led examples to understand the types of homes behind the numbers. The city-centre benchmark is about 80 m² in Toronto and 333 m² in Regina: a 4× floor-area gap before lot value, condition, neighbourhood, or home type.
These were active asking-price snapshots when checked on July 11, 2026. The photos and facts come from the linked listings, not from the model used elsewhere on this page.
The Regina example asks C$8,000 less but lists 46% more floor area and three more bedrooms than the Toronto example.
Actual listing photoA three-storey townhome rather than a detached estate, with four bedrooms and a ravine-facing deck.
Actual listing photoA large detached home with seven listed bedrooms, two kitchens, a courtyard, and parking for seven vehicles.
Actual listing photoA five-bedroom lake-community house with a finished basement and a triple attached garage.
Actual listing photoA two-bedroom East Vancouver townhouse with a lock-off studio and one underground parking space.
Actual listing photoA six-bedroom suburban home with a finished walkout level, double garage, and a quarter-acre lot.
Every card is a modeled buying scenario, not a listing. Each one uses a distinct generated regional visual and shows its own floor area, home form, and price band. Real listing photos appear only in the sourced C$1M snapshot above.
Each rectangle is a city. Larger rectangles have a higher local price per m²; colour shows the estimated floor area the selected budget buys.
Regional view: market clusters make nearby comparisons easier to scan.
Price map: larger tiles mean higher local price per m².
Tile colour: red means less estimated space; green means more. Select a tile to focus the examples on that city.
| Market | Housing form | Selected C$/m² | Price / income | Estimated space | Centre / outside |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TorontoCanada | Condo apartment | $11,095 | 11.5x | 92 m² (990 ft²) | 80 m² / 103 m² |
| VancouverCanada | Strata apartment | $11,273 | 11.9x | 90 m² (969 ft²) | 79 m² / 101 m² |
| CalgaryCanada | Condo or townhouse | $5,087 | 6.0x | 197 m² (2,121 ft²) | 189 m² / 204 m² |
| MontrealCanada | Condo or plex unit | $6,253 | 7.5x | 163 m² (1,755 ft²) | 140 m² / 186 m² |
| New YorkUnited States | Co-op or condo | $17,443 | 11.2x | 75 m² (807 ft²) | 39 m² / 110 m² |
| San FranciscoUnited States | Condo apartment | $13,564 | 6.4x | 75 m² (807 ft²) | 67 m² / 82 m² |
| ChicagoUnited States | Condo or townhouse | $4,767 | 3.4x | 219 m² (2,357 ft²) | 173 m² / 265 m² |
| Mexico CityMexico | Apartment | $4,199 | 14.1x | 262 m² (2,820 ft²) | 183 m² / 341 m² |
| Sao PauloBrazil | Apartment | $3,314 | 13.7x | 310 m² (3,337 ft²) | 261 m² / 359 m² |
| LondonUnited Kingdom | Flat or leasehold unit | $20,294 | 16.7x | 59 m² (635 ft²) | 35 m² / 83 m² |
| ParisFrance | Apartment | $17,688 | 17.3x | 59 m² (635 ft²) | 47 m² / 70 m² |
| BerlinGermany | Apartment | $10,522 | 11.1x | 99 m² (1,066 ft²) | 80 m² / 118 m² |
| AmsterdamNetherlands | Apartment or row-house unit | $12,543 | 9.7x | 84 m² (904 ft²) | 66 m² / 101 m² |
| MadridSpain | Apartment | $9,520 | 13.4x | 120 m² (1,292 ft²) | 77 m² / 163 m² |
| SydneyAustralia | Strata apartment | $14,265 | 12.0x | 76 m² (818 ft²) | 55 m² / 96 m² |
| MelbourneAustralia | Strata apartment | $9,470 | 7.5x | 106 m² (1,141 ft²) | 100 m² / 112 m² |
| AucklandNew Zealand | Apartment or unit | $9,357 | 10.5x | 111 m² (1,195 ft²) | 89 m² / 133 m² |
| TokyoJapan | Condominium apartment | $10,941 | 16.3x | 105 m² (1,130 ft²) | 67 m² / 143 m² |
| SeoulSouth Korea | Apartment | $25,930 | 29.5x | 47 m² (506 ft²) | 27 m² / 67 m² |
| SingaporeSingapore | Private condominium | $27,757 | 24.6x | 37 m² (398 ft²) | 31 m² / 43 m² |
| Hong KongHong Kong | High-rise apartment | $31,924 | 35.2x | 33 m² (355 ft²) | 25 m² / 41 m² |
| BangkokThailand | Condominium apartment | $6,683 | 37.9x | 165 m² (1,776 ft²) | 115 m² / 214 m² |
| MumbaiIndia | Apartment | $6,172 | 28.0x | 195 m² (2,099 ft²) | 115 m² / 274 m² |
| DubaiUnited Arab Emirates | Freehold apartment | $8,059 | 8.4x | 134 m² (1,442 ft²) | 97 m² / 171 m² |
| Cape TownSouth Africa | Apartment or sectional-title unit | $2,727 | 5.9x | 384 m² (4,133 ft²) | 303 m² / 464 m² |
| EdmontonCanada | Condo, townhouse, or detached home | $3,130 | 3.3x | 320 m² (3,444 ft²) | 309 m² / 330 m² |
| OttawaCanada | Condo or townhouse | $6,383 | 6.3x | 157 m² (1,690 ft²) | 161 m² / 153 m² |
| WinnipegCanada | Condo, townhouse, or detached home | $3,297 | 4.7x | 304 m² (3,272 ft²) | 304 m² / 303 m² |
| HalifaxCanada | Condo, townhouse, or detached home | $4,255 | 5.5x | 237 m² (2,551 ft²) | 220 m² / 253 m² |
| VictoriaCanada | Condo or townhouse | $7,138 | 8.3x | 142 m² (1,528 ft²) | 127 m² / 156 m² |
| HamiltonCanada | Condo, townhouse, or detached home | $3,853 | 4.8x | 260 m² (2,799 ft²) | 260 m² / 260 m² |
| KitchenerCanada | Condo or townhouse | $5,229 | 6.2x | 192 m² (2,067 ft²) | 181 m² / 202 m² |
| KelownaCanada | Condo, townhouse, or detached home | $5,092 | 6.1x | 199 m² (2,142 ft²) | 177 m² / 221 m² |
| SaskatoonCanada | Condo, townhouse, or detached home | $3,965 | 5.4x | 252 m² (2,713 ft²) | 249 m² / 255 m² |
| ReginaCanada | Condo, townhouse, or detached home | $2,970 | 4.0x | 337 m² (3,627 ft²) | 333 m² / 340 m² |
| MonctonCanada | Condo, townhouse, or detached home | $3,026 | 4.5x | 331 m² (3,563 ft²) | 321 m² / 340 m² |
| Quebec CityCanada | Condo, townhouse, or detached home | $6,059 | 7.5x | 188 m² (2,024 ft²) | 123 m² / 252 m² |
| BostonUnited States | Condo or townhouse | $14,301 | 8.2x | 80 m² (861 ft²) | 51 m² / 109 m² |
| Los AngelesUnited States | Condo or small detached home | $10,232 | 8.1x | 98 m² (1,055 ft²) | 95 m² / 101 m² |
| MiamiUnited States | Condo or townhouse | $7,672 | 6.1x | 146 m² (1,572 ft²) | 98 m² / 194 m² |
| SeattleUnited States | Condo or townhouse | $8,949 | 4.8x | 117 m² (1,259 ft²) | 93 m² / 140 m² |
| RomeItaly | Apartment | $8,468 | 15.2x | 145 m² (1,561 ft²) | 83 m² / 206 m² |
| LisbonPortugal | Apartment | $8,574 | 18.9x | 126 m² (1,356 ft²) | 91 m² / 161 m² |
| ViennaAustria | Apartment | $14,795 | 15.3x | 79 m² (850 ft²) | 49 m² / 109 m² |
| CopenhagenDenmark | Owner-occupied apartment | $13,762 | 9.0x | 75 m² (807 ft²) | 61 m² / 89 m² |
| PragueCzech Republic | Apartment | $11,916 | 18.1x | 86 m² (926 ft²) | 72 m² / 100 m² |
| ZurichSwitzerland | Apartment | $30,565 | 12.9x | 35 m² (377 ft²) | 26 m² / 43 m² |
| TaipeiTaiwan | High-rise apartment | $15,437 | 31.2x | 69 m² (743 ft²) | 53 m² / 84 m² |
| DelhiIndia | Apartment | $2,429 | 16.1x | 510 m² (5,490 ft²) | 286 m² / 734 m² |
| Buenos AiresArgentina | Apartment | $3,094 | 13.3x | 334 m² (3,595 ft²) | 275 m² / 392 m² |
This tool is designed to make unlike markets more comparable without pretending they are identical. The method is simple enough to audit, and every important limitation stays visible.
Budget ÷ apartment purchase price per m². We show both city-centre and outside-centre estimates.
The income benchmark is derived from Numbeo’s documented median-family-income model, not a local census table.
The same apartment benchmark is used across cities. Detached houses, land, and luxury segments can differ sharply.
The gallery applies disclosed -28% to +35% price-per-m² bands for condition and location. These are modeled examples, not observed sales.
Price-per-square-metre and price-to-income values come from Numbeo’s rolling city property dataset, captured from June 5 to July 11, 2026. Most records were requested in Canadian dollars; several comparison records show the source's Canadian-dollar conversion directly. Numbeo is crowdsourced, so use the figures as broad market indicators and verify with local transaction data before making a decision.
Numbeo models median family disposable income as 1.5 times the average net salary and compares it with a 90 m² apartment priced at the average of centre and outside-centre rates. That creates a consistent global proxy, but it is not the same as gross household income reported by Statistics Canada, the U.S. Census Bureau, or another national agency.
OECD household-income definitionsThe result ranges from a micro-apartment in the most expensive Asian and European cores to a family-sized apartment equivalent in lower-cost markets. Use the city-centre and outside-centre switch because the location premium can change the estimated floor area by more than two times.
No. The 4,000 cards are modeled buying scenarios derived from dated city price-per-square-metre benchmarks. Their regional visuals are generated illustrations rather than listings, addresses are not invented, and every card links to its benchmark source.
The catalogue covers 50 cities, four budgets, and 20 scenarios per city at each budget. The scenarios vary location, condition, and price-per-square-metre bands around each city's observed benchmark; they are not copied listings.
BubbleWatch divides the selected Canadian-dollar budget by the city’s reported apartment purchase price per square metre. The result excludes taxes, legal fees, financing, maintenance, and recurring building charges.
No. It is an estimated median family disposable-income benchmark derived from Numbeo’s documented price-to-income method. It is useful for a consistent global comparison but should not replace official local census or tax data.
Not necessarily. Foreign-buyer eligibility, taxes, financing, property tenure, and residency rules differ sharply. The market cards flag major caveats, but a local lawyer and tax adviser are needed before acting.
Move from the global lens to detailed Canadian affordability data.
Estimate a Canadian purchase limit using income, debts, and mortgage rules.
Compare the unrecoverable costs and long-term trade-offs.