Yahoo Finance Investing in top stocks versus Canada's hottest real estate market
It's been another banner year for Canadian real estate, with returns beating the pants off some of the hottest stocks.
We pitted Amazon, Tesla, Shopify, and Suncor against the country's hottest housing market — a small Ontario town about three hours away from Toronto called Bancroft.
Canadian real estate broke the national sales record by October. Home prices are up around 23 per cent nationally. But some smaller communities in Ontario are up much more. Bancroft-area prices are up around 48 per cent.
The costs associated with buying a home were not included. Leverage was not considered, so the buyer would be a lucky soul blessed to have around $470,000 on hand to buy the average-priced home in the area. This is just for fun.
Amazon
Jeff Bezos fulfilled a dream to go to space in 2021. But Amazon's stock was relatively grounded. Shares are up around 10 per cent. And although shareholders have been handsomely rewarded over the long term, Bancroft real estate crushed it this year.
Tesla
Tesla CEO Elon Musk also went to space, and he wasn't shy about chirping Bezos for doing it first. He also became the world's richest person, ahead of Bezos. His primary source of wealth is his Tesla stock. Despite selling off after Musk announced he was selling shares, the stock is still up around 76 per cent for close to double the return compared to a Bancroft home.
Shopify
Shopify is often compared to Amazon and has been a stock market darling since its debut. It's Canada's biggest company by market cap and had another good year as more people shopped from home during the pandemic. It's up 45 per cent, but that's not good enough for this comparison because Bancroft real estate wins again.
Suncor
Oil prices pushed higher on supply issues, which was good news for oil companies and their share prices reflected that. Canada's largest energy company Suncor had one of its best years ever, up 42 per cent. That wasn't good enough either; Bancroft wins this one too, for three out of four in this challenge.
Jessy Bains is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jessysbains.
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