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“This really has to do with space and lifestyle,” he affirms. “I’m getting another thousand or 1,500 sq. ft., and I’m getting a bigger 60-ft backyard, than I would get here in Toronto. I’m not cramped in an apartment.”

Of course, the city’s affordability, compared to Toronto, is likely the strongest lure for youngsters priced out of the GTA.

According to TheRedPin, the Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington and the Toronto Real Estate Board, the average price of a freehold house in Hamilton was $458,146 in the third quarter of 2016. In comparison, freeholds in the GTA were around $889,413 in the same period – a gap of more than $430,000.

Even though those numbers look tempting for someone accustomed to Toronto housing prices, Hamilton has actually become the hottest real estate market in Canada, according to the latest edition of the RE/MAX annual Housing Market Outlook Report, which was released last month.

“Our values have gone through the roof in the last two years,” confirms Rod Frank, a real estate agent in Hamilton who has lived there for over 50 years. “So, locals are selling their home in Hamilton now, and then they’re moving to cheaper areas, in the outskirts – places like Port Dover and St. Catharines.”

That population shift could have negative effects, says Gidamy.

“Hamilton is typically a baby boomer town, so what is going to happen with the baby boomers themselves? It’s like push and pull. The city is pulling in all these new millennials, but if the baby boomers start leaving, then there’s also a significant problem on the other side.”

By the numbers

9.9%: Percentage that Hamilton’s millennial population grew between 2011 and 2015

5.9%: Percentage that Toronto’s millennial population grew between 2011 and 2015

$430,000: Gap between freehold home prices in the GTA and Hamilton in third quarter of 2016

$110,000: Gap between condo prices in the GTA and Hamilton in third quarter of 2016

Sources: TheRedPin, Statistics Canada, Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington, Toronto Real Estate Board