If you live in Canada, you live in a big country with a lot of different regions. The weather and economy in those regions has a huge impact on the price of real estate within the major cities of the country. For years, Ontario was the definition of high real estate prices in Canada, and for good reason. With the kind of demand put on the market in the big cities there, resale condominiums in Toronto and even in smaller cities such as Ottawa and Mississauga sold for premium prices.

That all began to change early in the new millennium, though, as cities out in the west began to make some serious economic turnarounds. The first to leap over Toronto in terms of the price of the average house was the city of Vancouver. Attractive due both to a booming economy and the great weather, people from all over Canada and even the world were interested in buying houses in the nation's third largest city. Today, with a rush on to beat the HST and the stimulus of the Olympics, Vancouver has by far the highest prices for homes in the country, an incredible $611,000 on average. And those prices keep going up; at that cost, you could buy about three College Park residences.

Vancouver's not the only west coast city to top Toronto on home prices, either. British Columbia's capital city, Victoria, has prices that would startle an Oakville real estate agent. Living on Vancouver Island has become very trendy, and Victoria has plenty of old money residents as well as new wealth contributions from the oil patch in Alberta. These have combined to drive prices up to $413,000 on average, just slightly over Toronto's $407,000 prices.

A little to the east, Calgary prices have dropped quite a bit in the last two years. At one point in 2007 and 2008, Calgary home owners were paying about $50,000 more for a home than the average Toronto buyer. Today though the city sits below Toronto with average prices at $395,000, largely due to the somewhat lower prices of oil as well as a tapped out market.

When it comes to comparing Ontario real estate, of course, Toronto is still at the top of the price list. You will find that London Ontario property is significantly less expensive than that in the bigger cities. At an average selling price of $255,700, London homes can be said to be an incredible $105,000 less than equivalent properties in Toronto.

And the more rural you get, the further the house prices drop. Port Perry houses are great for that rural feel, and come with a good price tag too. If you are looking for an even more pronounced vacation feel, though, you might want to check out New Brunswick, where the average price in the capital of Fredericton is a mere $141,000.