Realtors Dub Halifax A ‘Seller’s Market’ In 2023
MONCTON – According to RE/MAX Canada, Atlantic Canada is going to see more growth in the value of its homes despite its forecast of a balanced market for much of the country in the coming year.
In a November 29 report, RE/MAX said it expects more price growth in Atlantic Canadian markets and expects average residential sale prices to spike eight percent in Halifax and four percent in St. John’s in 2023.
RE/MAX also forecasted a 3.5 percent decline in the Moncton, Saint John, and Fredericton housing markets in 2023. These predictions are informed by data from RE/MAX’s 2023 Canadian Housing Market Outlook Report.
The real estate company dubbed Halifax a seller’s market in 2023, with buyers driving demand in the region. The company anticipates demand to “start slow, but pick up its pace in the second half of 2023.”
Halifax, which is expected to have limited supply in 2023, saw a 19 percent increase in year-over-year residential sale prices, jumping from $457,741 in 2021 to $542,663, in 2022.
Sales numbers in the city declined 25 percent year-over-year, from 6,588 in 2021 to 4,912 in 2022, thanks to rising interest rates and post-pandemic interprovincial migration.
Single-detached family homes are the hottest commodity in the Halifax market. RE/MAX also expects to see prices rise in Ottawa and Montreal.
The same report said RE/MAX brokers and agents expect a 3.3 percent average price dip in residential sales across Canada in 2023.
It also expects 60 percent of the country’s housing markets to return to a balanced state in 2023 – that percentage includes the Greater Toronto Area, the Greater Vancouver Area, Calgary, Regina, and Winnipeg.
RE/MAX president Christopher Alexander claimed in the report that economic conditions will improve and the market will “even out” in the third and fourth quarters of 2023.
Alexander said the trends are welcome and needed, following the spiking demand and prices of 2022.
“Many Canadians understandably expressed hesitancy about engaging in the real estate market in 2023, in the wake of rising interest rates and broader economic uncertainties. However, despite this, a greater number of Canadians consider real estate to be a solid long-term investment compared to this time last year,” he said.
The report said 73 percent of Canadians considered home ownership as the best long-term investment they can make. However, the same data notes Canadians’ declining enthusiasm, short-term, regarding home ownership, with 67 percent of respondents saying they are less inclined to buy in the first half of 2023 on account of and 62 percent saying they are less inclined to sell in the same period.