College Hill is the most affordable of Fredericton’s established south side areas, and over five years it has appreciated faster than any of them. Two universities, the regional hospital and Odell Park are all within walking distance. There is also one question you should ask before you buy here, and I will get to it.
What a home on the hill costs
The board reports this area as Hill Area; locally it is College Hill. Either way, the July 2026 MLS® Home Price Index benchmark was $386,000.
| Area | Benchmark | 12 months | 3 years | 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hill Area / College Hill (A1) | $386,000 | +5.9% | +22.2% | +54.9% |
| Skyline Acres / Southwood Park | $410,400 | +4.9% | +23.3% | +51.9% |
| Downtown | $438,400 | +6.8% | +20.7% | +50.2% |
| Fredericton region | $361,100 | +5.9% | +25.1% | +48.6% |
Two things stand out. It is the cheapest entry point of the three established south side areas — about $52,000 below Downtown. And its five-year gain of 54.9% is the highest of any sub-area inside the city, ahead of Skyline Acres, Downtown and Silverwood.
Source: MLS® Home Price Index, New Brunswick Real Estate Association boards, July 2026 data.
What is actually up here
The University of New Brunswick — the oldest English-language university in Canada, with the Fredericton campus established in 1785. UNB reports over 10,600 students from more than 100 countries across its campuses.
St. Thomas University shares the same hill. STU relocated to the UNB campus and welcomed students there in October 1964. It is a primarily undergraduate university of roughly 1,700 students. The two institutions share student union facilities, libraries, athletics and a common heating plant while remaining financially and academically separate.
The Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital, at 700 Priestman Street, is the regional hospital for this part of New Brunswick. Horizon Health describes it as a centre of expertise for reconstructive and restorative medicine and a leading plastic surgery centre. It runs a 24-hour Emergency Department, general, orthopedic, plastic, thoracic and vascular surgery, obstetrics, pediatrics and a neonatal intensive care unit, cancer care, mental health and addiction services, intensive care and medical imaging. It is a teaching site for roughly 20 health disciplines in partnership with Dalhousie and UNB.
If you work at either university or at the hospital, this is the address that removes your commute entirely. That is not a small thing in a New Brunswick February.
Odell Park
The City describes Odell Park as 400 acres, on what was formerly Reverend Jonathan Odell’s estate, with a duck pond, an arboretum, a botanic garden, woodlands and fields, and Odell Park Lodge available for community use.
The trail network inside it totals 12.3 km — the Main Woods Trail alone is 4.4 km, with a 5.7 km groomed trail in winter. The City also operates a natural outdoor rink at Odell Park off Rookwood Avenue.
Add the 2 km UNB and STU campus trail and the 2.2 km Knowledge Park trail, and the Lady Beaverbrook Rink at 411 University Avenue, and the recreation offering on this hill is as good as anywhere in the city.
One honest note: the City’s park page says 400 acres while its own 2009 Recreation Master Plan says 108.9 hectares, which is about 269 acres. Two City documents disagree. I am quoting the current page and telling you the discrepancy exists rather than picking whichever number sounds better.
The new bus route matters here
Route 300 Campus Connect started on 22 June 2026. Every trip originates and terminates at the UNB Student Union Building, and it links the campus with the Dr. Everett Chalmers hospital, Regent Mall, Corbett Centre and the neighbourhoods along Golf Club Road, Duncan Lane, King’s Place and Woodstock Road, running in both directions.
Weekday service is every half hour from 6:45 to 10:45 a.m. and 3:45 to 6:45 p.m., hourly the rest of the day, with hourly Saturday service.
Construction near Duncan Lane and Sami Street disrupts part of the route until roughly September 2026.
For anyone weighing a one-car household, a brand new high-frequency route connecting the two largest employers on the hill is worth factoring in. Very few Fredericton neighbourhoods have that.
The question to ask before you buy here
College Hill is a residential neighbourhood next door to roughly 12,000 students. The City’s own Municipal Plan commits it to working with UNB and STU “to ensure an adequate supply of housing is provided” for students, and encourages UNB to develop its lands as an “Uptown Mixed-Use Node.”
So the demand is real and officially acknowledged. What no public source publishes is the owner-occupier to student-rental ratio street by street, and it varies a great deal within a few blocks.
That matters in both directions. If you are buying to live in, you want to know what is beside you and behind you. If you are buying as an investment, that same demand is the reason the numbers work. Either way, ask before you write — and ask someone who has actually been inside the houses on that street. It is not a question a listing answers.
Schools
Priestman Street Elementary is at 363 Priestman Street, K–5. Forest Hill Elementary at 548 Forest Hill Road covers K–1, with Liverpool Street Elementary taking grades 2–5 — an unusual split worth knowing about if you have young children. High school is Fredericton High at 300 Priestman Street, and francophone families have École Sainte-Anne at 715 rue Priestman.
Anglophone West does not publish catchment maps. Confirm the assignment for a specific civic address through the district’s BusPlanner tool before you buy.
Snow and access
Kings College Road and MacLaren Avenue are both Priority 2 snow-clearing routes — the City’s tier for minor collectors and local streets on bus, school or hospital routes. That puts them ahead of ordinary residential streets after a storm, which is a genuine advantage on a hill.
The City’s Active Transportation plan also proposes a “Kings College Connector” trail from Odell Park across Smythe Street to Kings College Road, linking the Valley Trail to the universities.
What I check on a College Hill walkthrough
- Whether the house has been a rental, and what that did to it. Bedroom counts that do not match the original layout, egress windows, and how many kitchens there are.
- Wiring and panel capacity, particularly in anything converted to multiple units.
- Fire separation between units, if there are units.
- Foundation and drainage on a sloped lot — water goes downhill and ends up in somebody’s basement.
- Parking, and whether it is legal.
- Zoning and permitted use, confirmed with the City, if income is part of your plan.
I came into real estate from residential construction, which is why I look at converted houses this way. More on my background.
Where to go from here
- Fredericton neighbourhoods — all 21 areas with benchmark prices.
- Downtown Fredericton — the next area over, and a different set of trade-offs.
- Buying a home in Fredericton — deposits, conditions and closing costs.
- What is my home worth? — if you are selling on the hill.
- Get in touch — I answer my own phone.
