A house being sold in Prince George

By Tommy Osborne

Moving to PG

More move to Prince George amid cost of living crisis

Nov 24, 2023 | 4:43 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Prince George hasn’t been immune from the cost of living crisis, but relatively speaking we remain one of the more affordable cities not just in the province, but the entire country.

The average price of a home listed in Prince George sits at approximately $400,000. While definitely not cheap, it seems like a bargain when you compare it to the astronomical price of Vancouver’s average, which is around $1.6 million. Even other big cities like Victoria and Calgary sit at around $670,000 and $750,000, making Prince George an attractive place to move.

“We have referrals coming in from other real estate professionals in other areas of B.C or in Alberta, across the country, really. They’re connecting clients with us here saying ‘I have somebody who’s moving to Prince George for a work opportunity or school or because it’s affordable living,'” Team Powerhouse Realty Managing Broker Janine Phillips explained.

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It’s not just that our houses are far cheaper than many other cities, it’s also that we have a wide variety of choices, another big draw for Prince George.

“Somebody can really find something in whatever price range they’re looking for, but can easily find something that has two bedrooms in a mobile home park for under $100,000. There are homes available in almost any price range you could imagine because of the makeup of our communities,” Phillips said.

When you factor in the entire cost of living, Prince George offers many opportunities to save. Phillips said Prince George has so many amenities at an affordable price that it actually becomes quite a destination for younger people. Whether it’s students at UNBC or CNC or young families looking to get into home ownership, Phillips says Prince George has increasingly become a destination for people as they look to get away from ridiculously high costs in other markets.

“It’s kind of not a secret anymore that it’s a really great place to live, work, play, study, whatever you’re doing. We have a bit of everything.”

While Prince George does have a lot to offer, it doesn’t mean anything if people don’t know about it. This is where the City of Prince George steps in, and the City’s Manager of Economic Development Deklan Costanje says the website Moveupprincegeorge.ca has seen high levels of traffic recently.

“Just in the past six months our website has seen 35,000 new users, and many from large cities, namely Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary,” he said.

“Our connectivity, both digital and transportation, helps us stand out among other rural locations as well,” he continued.

With steady growth projected for Prince George and costs continuing to rise here and in other cities, it’s likely we’ll continue to see more people move here to take advantage of everything our city has to offer