Three little-known hot, but affordable Canadian housing markets

The Globe's Real Estate Beat offers news and analysis on the Canadian housing market from real estate reporter Tara Perkins. Read more on The Globe's housing page and follow Tara on Twitter @TaraPerkins.

We all know that cities such as Calgary and Toronto are driving Canadian home prices to record highs.

But Brookfield RPS poured through its database to come up with some of the best-performing markets you've never heard of, and it found some affordable urban outskirts where home prices are doing well.

These places each have populations under 50,000, and prices that have appreciated by at least 10 per cent over the past year.

ClickTap any marker to see more information.

1. Airdrie, Alberta

- The population was 42,564 as of 2011
- It’s about 36 kilometres north of Calgary
- The average price of a home is $380,000, compared to $450,000 in Calgary
- Home prices in the first quarter of this year were 12 per cent higher than a year earlier

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2. East Gwillimbury, Ontario

- The population was about 22,473 as of 2011
- It’s about 56 kilometres north of Toronto
- The average price of a home is $505,000, compared to $665,000 in Toronto
- Home prices in the first quarter were 14 per cent higher than a year earlier

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3. Saint-Colomban, Quebec

- The population was about 13,080 as of 2011
- It’s about 70 kilometres north-west of Montreal
- The average price of a home is $285,000, compared to $370,000 in Montreal
- Home prices in the first quarter were 16 per cent higher than a year earlier

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