Housing figures suggest cool down in real estate market

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This article was published 16/11/2021 (1038 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG home prices have jumped almost 18 per cent since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to fresh data that suggest the city may have bucked national trends by plateauing.

The cost of the average single-family home in the Winnipeg market stood at $283,200 in March 2020, and steadily rose to $336,600 as of October 2021, a jump of 18.9 per cent.

In that 19-month period, condo prices rose 8.3 per cent in that time, landing at $208,200 as of October, according to recurring, seasonally adjusted data from the Canadian Real Estate Association.

Townhouses rose by 11.5 per cent, to $254,700.

The composite home price — which is an average of all type of residences sold each month — was 17.7 per cent higher in Winnipeg last month than it was in March 2020.

Nationwide, that same metric for home prices across all categories jumped by 33.5 per cent since March 2020. The average for a single-family home, regardless of its size, is $846,100.

The lobby group’s data suggest home prices in Winnipeg stopped rising so steeply as of July, despite a continuing acceleration in other markets. In the last three reported months, homes rose by 1.5 per cent, compared with 5.6 per cent nationally.

CREA found in the past 12 months, Manitoba home prices have jumped 10 per cent, compared with 20 per cent in British Columbia and 30 per cent in the Moncton, N.B., and Toronto areas.

David De Leeuw, a veteran agent at Royal LePage Prime Real Estate, said the industry focuses on year-over-year rates, and it doesn’t seem like the market is cooling down.

“On the street, we’re still seeing prices going up, as there’s been less inventory,” said De Leeuw, adding it’s become common to see 10 offers on a Winnipeg home.

“We just don’t have enough supply.”

He noted this year, Canada was found to have the lowest supply of housing in the G7 group of rich countries.

Meanwhile, the pandemic has made home a place for everything from work to exercise to teaching children.

That has in part created regional booms, such as people leaving places such as Toronto for Moncton, where the cost of a single-family home jumped from $190,000 in March 2020 to $291,600 as of last month.

“Across the board, people are looking for homes that fill their needs better,” said De Leeuw.

In Winnipeg, the same mix of locals and newcomers are looking for houses, he said.

“I don’t think the buyer has changed; I just think there’s more of them.”

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca