As I have mentioned I used to live in New Zealand and actually still own homes there. The difference between homes in New Zealand and homes in Canada is huge, I thought I’d talk about a few of the big differences.
INSULATION – Obviously here in Canada it can get cold in winter so the homes have amazing insulation, you can be inside wearing a tshirt and not know that its minus 20 out. Unfortunately this is not the case in New Zealand, visiting there even in summer I find the homes can be really cold. It wasn’t until the late 1970s that insulation in walls became compulsory so some homes still don’t even have that, only in the early 2000s did double glazing become standard in new builds. Noone has central heating, some homes still have fireplaces for heating, although they are getting rid of them in a lot of places due to air pollution. Most people are now going for a wall mounted heat pump, however usually only in the living area. As a result the homes are quite chilly, even in summer. But the Kiwi way is,” You’re cold? Put on another jersey!” (meaning a sweater).
KITCHENS – Kiwis have had stainless steel appliances as standard for 10-15 years now, as a result you will see them in almost all new houses and most renovated kitchens too. Compared to Canadian appliances they are tiny, but they would look at Canadian appliances and say they are huge – I’m stuck somewhere in the middle. The overall design of kitchens is quite different aswell, Canadians are very traditional with some sort of trim or detail on doors, and trim around the top and bottom of cabinets. New Zealanders are very modern and minimal with their kitchen designs, if there was a trim detail it would be ripped out, it is seen as old fashioned. Granite – everyone wants granite or stone countertops (called benches in New Zealand), in Canada it is relatively affordable and seen in most renovations and new builds. In New Zealand I think mainly because of the shipping cost to such a small country far away from everything, Granite is very expensive and therefore only seen in some very high end homes, not even standard in all new builds.
GARAGES/PARKING – A lot of this category may be Toronto rather than all of Canada but so many homes don’t have off street parking and it is extremely rare to see any sort of garage here, in New Zealand a driveway and garage are pretty much expected. Try selling a home there without a garage, you will have difficulty, no off street parking at all, I don’t know that you would ever sell it! A lot of people expect a double garage and along with a driveway. You will have off street parking for 3-4 more cars, although in New Zealand parking would only really count as how many cars you can park without blocking any other cars in, as opposed to Canada 3 cars one behind the other is parking for 3.
These are just a few of the differences, there are so many! The whole décor of homes in Canada is very traditional and a lot of homes in New Zealand are very modern and quite minimal.
TOinvestinhome 