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If you're hoping to purchase a home this year, you might already be facing a challenging seller's market defined by—at this juncture, at least—low inventory.

But a challenging market isn't necessarily a bad one—at least from a homeowner's perspective.

A recent report by real estate company Zoocasa points out that many people—68 per cent, according to a recent Zoocasa study—believe that real estate is both a lucrative and safe investment.

And they're not wrong.

"It's true that many property owners likely saw immense returns over the course of the booming sellers' conditions that defined Canadian housing markets in 2016 and early 2017," says Penelope Graham, managing editor, Zoocasa.

"However, as the Canadian Real Estate Association has reported sales and prices fell 12.6 per cent and 2.9 per cent last month, does the same still hold true in today's softer market?"

Graham says Zoocasa calculated the change in value of an average home, assessing gains and losses in three key Canadian housing markets over the course of 2018 - the Greater Toronto Area, Greater Vancouver, and Calgary. Those findings were then compared to returns across a high-interest savings account (+1.1% y-o-y), the S&P / TSX Composite Index (-11.6% y-o-y) and the S&P Canada Aggregate Bond Index (+1.5% y-o-y).

Graham points out that whether or not your home's value appreciation exceeded these index and passive investments depends on a lot of things, including the market, government policies (such as the federal government's new mortgage rules) and overall price fatigue.

So, is Brampton a good investment?

According to the report, the housing market in the GTA is still showing positive growth.

Graham says that GTA buyers got the most bang for their buck at the end of 2018, with an increase in home value of 2.1 per cent, at an average price of $750,180.

"That's in the black by $15,159 from the start of the year, but falls considerably below this year's June market peak, where prices soared 9.9% to an average of $807,871," Graham says, adding that the GTA is also the only housing market of the three to outpace every alternative investment type.

In Vancouver, the market experienced a sharp year-over-year drop, while Calgary home prices ended the year on a flat note.

In the GTA, homes cost about $735,021 in December 2017 and climbed to $750,180 in December 2018.

So while it's certainly not easy to purchase a home in Mississauga, it still looks like the city's housing market will offer good return-on-investment if you decide to take the plunge.