As Halifax turns into a housing hotspot, many look to Ottawa for relief

Lachi Mainali and Lachsman Koirala stood outside a mustard-coloured house on a corner lot in Timberlea, a suburban community outside Halifax.

It's a long way from the downtown hospital where they work in housekeeping. But they're priced out of the real estate market in the city. This home — a split level with four bedrooms — is listed at just under $330,000. It's in their wheelhouse, financially, even though the couple knows from experience that it will sell for far more than that. 

"I'm hoping this one will be it," said Koirala as his wife laughed. He estimates they've looked at more than 150 homes in the past two years and put in offers on more than two dozen — only to be outbid each time.

"Sometimes it is so frustrating I think, like, we should wait for some time before looking for houses again for prices to come down again."

But waiting isn't really an option for the couple, who arrived as refugees from Nepal back in 2011. They've now got two children aged 12 and 8.

They want a home. A yard. And they're not giving up even though house prices in the Halifax area are among the fastest-rising in the country.

"We didn't have a home back in the country," said Koirala. "Coming here, we want to have a home. To feel what its like to have a home of our own. That's what makes us look for one."

"It's a dream," Mainali told CBC in an interview for a special edition of The House airing this weekend from Halifax.

Atlantic Canada's largest city is home to one of the hottest real estate markets in the country.

The Canadian Real Estate Association reports that the price of a typical house in the Halifax area jumped to a record $465,100 in February — up 33.5 per cent from just a year earlier.

The vacancy rate for rental units hovers around 1 percent. 

Angela Cowan is the realtor working with the couple. She said she hasn't seen a market like this since she got into the business 17 years ago.

Cowan said there are far more people wanting to buy than there are houses for sale. Buyers from out of province — seeing the relatively good prices in Nova Scotia as an investment opportunity — are driving up prices, putting in offers well above the asking price on places they have only seen online.

"I tell everybody this isn't sustainable. That's the thing, it's just not sustainable," she said in an interview with The House punctuated by a steady stream of incoming texts and calls to her mobile phone.