The Redistribution of Residential Property Values in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver: Examining Neoclassical and Marxist Views on Changing Investment Patterns

Abstract

This study examines the changes in residential property value in Canada's three largest metropolitan areas by using shift-share and regression analysis with census tract data. The results show that the tracts that increased their share of the metropolitan areas' real estate value in one decade tend to lose that share during the next decade. After accounting for the effect of new additions, the main transfer of wealth is from the older suburban ring to both the inner city and the new suburbs. The largest variation in the growth of property value is not between the new suburbs and the inner city but across the inner-city census tracts. The shifts and cycles of investment across broad city sectors predicted by neoclassical and Marxist theory are overwhelmed by local factors.