Priced out: Dramatic increase in house prices puts goal of ownership on pause for some in N.B.

Erin Hickey has just about given up on her quest to own a home in New Brunswick.

In August 2021, she moved into a three-bedroom apartment in Fredericton with her two sons after she and her husband separated.

She expected the stint in her below-ground-level apartment to last just a few months, with plans to purchase a house of her own somewhere outside city limits in 2022.

But two-and-a-half years later, Hickey said, she's been outbid and feels out of luck finding a home she can afford that can accommodate her family and her work-from-home needs.

She's now wondering whether she'll ever achieve her goal of buying a home, especially with her rent taking a bigger portion of her income every year.

"I can't think of any better way to describe my rent going up than a ticking time bomb, because it's going to keep increasing," Hickey said.

"It compounds yearly around five per cent so far ... and at some stage, if I stay in this apartment, I'm going to reach the point where my income will not be able to support this rent."

Hickey attempted to buy a house shortly after the prices in New Brunswick started a meteoric rise, which also happened in other Maritime provinces, after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

By the end of last year, the average home in New Brunswick sold for $297,527, compared with $177,055 in 2019, according to data from the Canadian Real Estate Association.

That 68 per cent increase in a four-year period accounted for the sharpest growth in home prices compared to all other provinces and territories.

Hickey said she was looking for something with three bedrooms and space to set up equipment she uses for work as a sewing contractor.

But by the time she was approved to borrow $170,000 in early 2022, the options were slim, based on her budget.

"I had a really good understanding of what houses were going, for ... and [$170,000 ] one year previous would have gotten me a house, no problem ... and then within that year, that ability was gone.

"Every once in a while I'll see a house that's just under $200,000 and I get excited, like, 'Oh, here we go, maybe things are going to change,' and those houses are snapped right up."