Medicine Hat’s real estate market stayed on the same track in 2019, and according to the new head of the local real estate board, more of the same should be expected moving forward.
According to new year-end figures, activity and value essentially stood pat with the previous year — home prices increased just 0.5 per cent – with only listing showing some minor fluctuation.
“All our numbers are very similar to last year,” said Dionne Todd, the incoming president of the Medicine Hat Real Estate Board.
“My personal opinion is that we’re going to be similar to where we are and have been for a while.”
The talk throughout Alberta’s real estate sector in early 2020 is that markets are seeing a “new normal” with more cautious and price conscious consumers across the province in a buyers market.
Poor economic outlook and continuing woe in the oilpatch is affecting markets, according to a report by the Alberta Real Estate Association.
That doesn’t necessarily translate directly to Medicine Hat, said Todd, who felt the local market was more insulated, but locals shouldn’t expect to see big fluctuations either.
“The past (strong markets) aren’t going to present themselves anytime soon, considering the economy and gas and oil leaving the city,” she told the News.
“I don’t anticipate seeing booms or fluctuations, but we’ve never really followed the trends in the large cities either. We definitely have our own dips and valleys.”
In Medicine Hat during 2019, a total of 1,290 properties changed hands for a total of $271.8 million, which is eight fewer sales than 2018 and $1 million less in receipt value than the whole-year figures in 2018.
That’s essentially even, considering the size on the market, and again on par with figures in three of the previous four years – the outlier being a minor market uptick in 2017.
The average home price rose slightly to $278,700 during the past 12 months, less than a percentage point higher as listings eventually rose through the year, likely keeping prices in check.
That supply adds to the resale market as Medicine Hat saw a severe downturn in new home construction last year.
New year-end figures from the city planning department state only 20 new home permits were issued last year, fewer than half the previous year and only one-fifth the total from five years ago.
That likely represents a more cautious approach from builders, and could mean better conditions for a buyers.
“There’s more to view and choose from, interest rates are still low – there are still a lot of positive things happening,” said Todd.
The Alberta Real Estate Association presented its year-end picture for the entire province this week, stating that inventory levels eased late in the year in the major centres of Calgary and Edmonton, but not enough to fix a situation that analysts say is oversupplied.
Most rural regions saw losses as the economy sputtered, Lethbridge made small gains, while Medicine Hat gained listing late in the year, causing prices to fall. It wasn’t enough to offset stronger results in the summer, however, a summary stated.
Specific to the Hat in December 2019, a total of 66 single-family homes and other residential sales closed for a grand total of $16.8 million. The month’s aggregate figure was pushed higher by four commercial transactions valued at $1.4 million.
One year earlier, higher-priced home sales, compared to condo sales and business sales set the December figure at $18.2 million, while each month recorded 70 transactions.
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.
