Winnipeg’s Daniel McIntyre neighbourhood has been named one of Canada’s most liveable places by a national real estate titan.
On Wednesday, Re/Max Canada released its 2024 Liveability Report. The West End neighbourhood made its top 10 list, alongside areas such as Sandy Hill in Ottawa and Westmount in Saskatoon.
And many Winnipeg regions — 14 others — joined Daniel McIntyre by being highlighted in more specific Re/Max liveability lists. Winnipeg tied Edmonton with four “best” neighbourhoods for first-time homebuyers.
NIC ADAM / FREE PRESSA for sale sign in front of a home in Winnipeg’s Daniel McIntyre neighbourhood which real estate company Re/Max named one of Canada’s most liveable neighbourhoods in its 2024 Liveability Report.
“It’s very exciting,” said Coun. Cindy Gilroy (Daniel McIntyre). “This is now showing, ‘Hey, this is a destination … this is a place that people can call home that is affordable.’”
Re/Max surveyed Canadians about the qualities they seek in a neighbourhood via Leger, a Canadian market research agency. Re/Max also partnered with Local Logic, a Montreal-based data analytics company, to find communities hosting reportedly desired qualities.
However, the search did not account for crime; that data wasn’t available, according to Re/Max.
Liveability factors considered include affordability, commute times and access to transit and green spaces.
In Winnipeg, homebuyers are most likely looking for a low crime rate, walking distance to amenities and a sense of community, the realtor said. Top concerns included affordable housing and a low housing supply.
The report errs, however, in specifying Daniel McIntyre alone in its top 10 list; it’s meant to highlight the West End area as a whole, according to Akash Bedi, a Re/Max broker and liveability report contributor.
The West End checks many boxes — accessibility to transit and shops, affordability, an overall feeling of community, said Bedi. “This is … a hot market for newcomers to Winnipeg.”
He estimates nearly half of his first-time homebuyer clients have been in Canada for three years or less. A majority immigrate from India, the Philippines and Ukraine, Bedi said.
Daniel McIntyre residents typically don’t need a car, due to transit and active transportation routes access; it keeps costs down, agreed Gilroy.
“Our homes are affordable,” she said. “People are trying to buy into the market, which is expensive in other cities and other parts of our city.”
A residential detached home in Winnipeg cost, on average, $437,367 in June, according to a recent Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board analysis.
The Re/Max report highlighted Winnipeg as having the most neighbourhoods best suited for big-city lovers without kids. Charleswood, Linden Woods, Westwood and Royalwood made the top 10 list.
Winnipeg also tied Montreal in having the highest number of neighbourhoods best suited for big-city lovers with kids. Bridgwater Trails, Sage Creek, Devonshire Park and North Kildonan were featured.
The Re/Max report comes eight months after the Globe and Mail named Winnipeg the country’s best city for raising children and one of Canada’s most liveable cities.
“It helps us continue to put the spotlight on Winnipeg as a great place to live in Canada,” said Alberto Velasco-Acosta, Economic Development Winnipeg’s vice-president, international.
The economic development agency launched a campaign following the Globe and Mail’s ranking. It markets a website (liveinwinnipeg.com) internationally and to Canadians living in cities with a higher cost of living.
“It’s very exciting to see our point (about) Winnipeg being an ideal place to live validated by data,” Velasco-Acosta commented.
Re/Max listed Winnipeg’s West End, downtown and West Kildonan as the city’s most affordable areas. Summerlea, Bison Run and Parkview Pointe are considered Winnipeg’s up-and-comers; Tuxedo, Waverley West and Sage Creek were deemed the most luxurious neighbourhoods by Re/Max.
Liveability scores in Re/Max’s report used data from the firm’s 2024 housing market files, the Canadian census and Local Logic.
gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com
Gabrielle Piché Reporter
Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle.
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TORONTO – One expert predicts Ottawa‘s changes to mortgage rules will help spur demand among potential homebuyers but says policies aimed at driving new supply are needed to address the “core issues” facing the market.
The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal calls it a “significant” move likely to accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.
However, he says in a note that policymakers should aim to “prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing” through policies geared toward the supply side.
Tal says the main issue is the lack of supply available to respond to Canada’s rapidly increasing population, particularly in major cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
