The Kootenay real estate market remained hot in October.
According to the Kootenay Association of Realtors (KAR), sales on residential units shot up 41.6 per cent from October 2019. Despite a drop in supply, a total of 466 units were sold in the East and West Kootenays last month compared to 307 in 2019.
The average MLS residential price in the region was $392,827, a 16.3 per cent rise from $337,667 recorded in October last year.
Total sales in October amounted to $170.4 million, a 64.4 per cent rise over 2019, which stood at $103.6 million. Also, homes were selling faster than usual with the median days on the market at just over 44, compared to 70 days in October, 2019.
“This has been the best October for real estate sales the region has seen in a very long time,” says KAR President Tyler Hancock. “Over the last six months we haven’t seen many COVID-19 cases and even in the wake of a second wave in the province, I believe sales in the region will hit record numbers in the coming months too.”
The number of houses sold in Trail also trended upward over last year with 19 purchases despite a 10-year inventory low of just 32 houses. In 2019, 16 houses were sold, with almost double the amount (61) of inventory.
The residences didn’t last long on the market and were sold within 28 days of listing, perhaps because the average Silver City home price was $250, 947.
Rossland’s market was even more robust in October. Realtors saw 21 residential home sales averaging $467,797 per unit, more than doubling September sales (10), and outdistancing last year’s 12 units sold in the same month.
The housing market began to heat up in June, and has continued to set record levels for five straight months. Across Canada, 402,578 homes were sold in the first nine months, up 5.8 per cent from 2019.
“Many Canadian housing markets are continuing to see historically strong levels of activity as we enter into the fall market of this very strange year,” stated Costa Poulopoulos, Chair of the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). “Along with historic supply shortages in a number of regions, fierce competition among buyers has been putting upward pressure on home prices.”
Average selling price in the Kootenays has increased 16 per cent in the past year, and risen consistently over the last six months, while inventory levels suffer.
“We need to make conservative forecasts about average pricing in the region,” said Hancock. “I am sure the realtors here are wary of the fact that inventory levels are very low.
“While that could cause average prices to increase at a rapid rate, it is the strong demand for single-family homes in the region that’s the driving force behind this consistent rise.
“On the other hand, we have added a little more inventory than we had this time last year. With mortgage deferrals ending in October, it will be interesting to see if we add more inventory in the coming months, which could stabilize average prices in the region.”
Year-to-date, Kootenay MLS residential sales dollar in October was $1.1 billion, nearly 24 per cent higher than what it was in October, 2019.
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.
MONTREAL – The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers says Montreal-area home sales rose 9.3 per cent in August compared with the same month last year, with levels slightly higher than the historical average for this time of year.
The association says home sales in the region totalled 2,991 for the month, up from 2,737 in August 2023.
The median price for all housing types was up year-over-year, led by a six per cent increase for the price of a plex at $763,000 last month.
The median price for a single-family home rose 5.2 per cent to $590,000 and the median price for a condominium rose 4.4 per cent to $407,100.
QPAREB market analysis director Charles Brant says the strength of the Montreal resale market contrasts with declines in many other Canadian cities struggling with higher levels of household debt, lower savings and diminishing purchasing power.
Active listings for August jumped 18 per cent compared with a year earlier to 17,200, while new listings rose 1.7 per cent to 4,840.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
