3 northeastern Ont. cities on the list for worst-kept homes in the province

Part of male construction worker. (File Photo/Image by gpointstudio on Freepik)

Three northeastern Ontario cities are on the list of the best and worst-kept homes in the province as compiled by a home insurance marketing blog.

MyChoice, an online company that markets home, auto and life insurance, said the list is based on 2021 Census data and shows percentages of Ontario homes that require major repairs – referring to significant issues such as defective plumbing, electrical wiring or structural repairs.

The company news release earlier this month said with the rise in HELOC (home equity line of credit) rates more and more homeowners are finding it difficult to manage home maintenance costs.

The disparities in home maintenance across the province may affect home insurance rates in Ontario-wide, according to MyChoice.

The company's recent study showed that Thunder Bay in northwestern Ontario was the city with the highest ratio of respondents in need of major repairs – 7.6 per cent of responses received indicated such.

On the opposite end of the list, the southern Ontario city of Vaughan, near Toronto, had only 2.5 per cent of homeowners indicate that repairs were needed.

The company’s complete list covers 42 larger communities across Ontario.

Three northeastern Ontario communities fell into the top 10 list of the worst-kept homes in the province. Sault Ste. Marie was fourth at 7.1 per cent with Sudbury just behind in fifth with 6.9 per cent and North Bay rounding out the top 10 worst-kept home listing with 6.7 per cent – no northern Ontario communities made the list of best-kept homes.

Three northeastern Ontario cities are on the list of the worst-kept homes in the province as compiled by MyChoice, an online company that markets home, auto and life insurance. (Supplied/MyChoice)

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Aren Mirzaian, The CEO of MyChoice, Aren Mirzaian commented on the broader economic context the numbers provide.

"The upsurge in HELOC rates is just one piece of the puzzle,” he said.

“We're seeing the inflation of home insurance rates in Canada, which, according to the Q3 Consumer Price Index, home and mortgage insurance rates have increased by 8.6 per cent in 2023. The largest contributor to this would be rising home replacement costs due to inflation of building materials."

Mirzaian said that inflationary pressure on home insurance rates also corresponded to a period of heightened natural disasters in the country – resulting in an increase in insurance claims which has resulted in a rise in premiums.

“It’s imperative for homeowners to stay vigilant about their home’s condition and make sure they have the appropriate level of insurance coverage,” he said.

Other insurance experts agreed with Mirzaian’s assessment saying that properly maintaining a home to prevent minor issues can prevent larger issues from evolving and leading to more costly repairs.