How have some hot investment areas performed over the past year?

Looking back over the past year, these are some areas where investors likely made a pretty penny.

British Columbia & the GTA

These two markets share a number of parallels, including red-hot condo markets and impressive year-over-year price gains.

“Single family home buyers in the GTA and Lower Mainland of British Columbia had been expected to bring forward their purchase decisions before tightened mortgage regulations take effect in February 2016,” said CREA President Pauline Aunger. “If listings in these and nearby markets were not in such short supply, January sales activity would likely have reached even greater heights.”

Starting on the west coast, investors in a number of B.C. markets likely had a good year.

Those who own in the Greater Vancouver area enjoyed a whopping 30.96% year-over-year price increase. Not to be outdone, however, were investors in Powell River where prices increased 39% year-over-year.

Vancouver Island and Victoria, meanwhile, experienced their own impressive gains – spiking 11% and 11.4% year-over-year respectively.

Meanwhile, investors over in the Greater Toronto Area experienced their own impressive price increases.

Toronto saw a 14.2% year-over-year increase; York Region enjoyed a 20.9% year-over-year spike, and Hamilton saw an 8% year-over-year increase.

Not too bad for markets expected to see further gains this year.

The Prairies

It wasn’t all terrible news for Alberta’s markets. Prices in Alberta West increased 13.1% year-over-year; not bad considering average prices for the province dipped by 2.7%.

Meanwhile, a number of Saskatchewan markets performed fairly well, including; Swift Current (+18.1%), Moose Jaw and Prince Albert (+10.6), and Yorkton District (+10.2%).

Maritimes

Many markets out east were impacted by a flagging oil industry, but investors in certain areas likely enjoyed some price gains.

The average price in Saint John, N.B. increased 13% year-over-year; the average price in Yarmouth, N.S. increased 13.9%, and the average price in Annapolis Valley, N.S. spiked 11.1% year-over-year.