The 2022 real estate year in the Ottawa Valley ended with a little bump in what can best be described as a year to forget if you are a realtor or an individual searching for that perfect home at a reasonably affordable price.
The number of homes sold through the MLS® System of the Renfrew County Real Estate Board totalled 83 units in December 2022. This was a substantial decline of 21 percent from December 2021 but still came in around average levels for this time of year.
The year started off slow and never really gained any momentum during the 12 months, a trend that the rest of Canada was mired in for the first eight months of the year.
In its final report of the year, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) reported the national slower than usual real estate sales in the first half of the year was caused by a number of factors.
“In 2022, we saw one of the biggest single-year shifts on record in Canadian housing activity, from record highs last winter to just below the 10-year average to end the year,” said Jill Oudil, chair of CREA. “That said, the market’s adjustment to higher rates may be mostly in the rear-view mirror at this point. That could start to bring buyers back off the sidelines this spring.
Leading the way for the slump in sales was the uncertainty of the Canadian mortgage rates and the pattern of following the American bank rate that was drastically increased over the latter part of the year.
The Federal Reserve waged a war on inflation throughout 2022 and as a result the interest rate set by the Fed increased by a whopping 4.25 per cent during the 12 months. The high rate of inflation, the war in Ukraine, shortages of materials in the global supply chain all contributed to the massive increases.
In Canada, the Bank of Canada often followed suit. In October the cost of borrowing to purchase a home was determined by the national rate which sat at 1.75 percent. By December 2022, it was 4.25 per cent.
In Renfrew County, home sales were eight percent below the five-year average and six percent above the 10-year average for the month of December. On an annual basis home sales totalled 1,652 units over the course of 2022. This was a significant decrease of 25.9 percent from the same period in 2021.
The average price of homes sold in December 2022 was $402,804, down sharply by 10.1 per cent from December 2021.
The more comprehensive annual average price was $465,948, an increase of 14.2 per cent from all of 2021.
The dollar value of all home sales in December 2022 was $33.4 million, a big reduction of 28.9% from the same month in 2021.
The number of new listings increased by 8.2 per cent (five listings) from December 2021. There were 66 new residential listings in December 2022.
New listings were 9.1 per cent below the five-year average and 21.7 per cent below the 10-year average for the month of December.
Active residential listings numbered 226 units on the market at the end of December, more than double the levels from a year earlier, surging 113.2 per cent from the end of December 2021.
Active listings were 20.3 per cent below the five-year average and 55.5 per cent below the 10-year average for the month of December.
Months of inventory numbered 2.7 at the end of December 2022, up from the one month recorded at the end of December 2021 and below the long-run average of 7.3 months for this time of year. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.
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.
