Real estate sales in the Powell River-Sunshine Coast real estate board region for the month of July 2021 were actually down from previous year’s July sales.
“Home sales may have moderated from last year’s searing pace of activity but actually remain quite strong compared to the rest of history,” said Neil Frost, president, Powell River Sunshine Coast Real Estate Board. “New listings are trending at average levels for this time of year, which has been enough to lift overall supply from its rock-bottom earlier in the spring. Make no mistake though, we’re still seeing strong price growth and the market remains inside seller’s territory for the time being.”
The number of new listings saw a substantial decline of 21.2 per cent (14 listings) from July 2020. Active residential listings numbered 101 units on the market at the end of July, a sharp decrease of 33.1 per cent from the end of July 2020. Active listings haven’t been this low in the month of July in more than 25 years, according to statistics from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).
Home sales were five per cent above the five-year average and 12 per cent above the 10-year average for the month of July, according to CREA.
In July 2021, there were 29 single-family units sold, valued at $15,533,450, compared to 41 units sold in July 2020, valued at $20,664,300.
There were five single-family mobiles and manufactured homes sold in July 2021, valued at $1,918,000, compared to five units, valued at $777,800 in July 2020.
In the single-family condos, apartments and duplexes category, there were five units, valued at $1,843,700, sold in July 2021, compared to four units, valued at $1,102,000, in July 2020.
Total residential sales were 39 units, valued at $19,295,150 in July 2021, compared to 50 units, valued at $22,544,100, in July 2020.
On the non-residential side, there were five parcels of vacant land, valued at $927,400, sold in July 2021, compared to three units, valued at $428,000, sold in July 2020.
There were no industrial, commercial or institutional sales in July 2021, and there was one, valued at $280,000, in July 2020.
Total non-residential sales in July 2021 were five units, valued at $927,400, compared to four units, valued at $708,000, in July 2020.
Grand totals show 44 sales in July 2021, valued at $20,222,550, compared to 54 units, valued at $23,252,100, in July 2020.
In July 2021, there were a total of 55 single-family residential and 18 non-residential new listings on the market. This compares to 67 residential and seven non-residential listings in July 2020. The number of active listings on the residential side at the end of July 2021 was 101, with 55 non-residential, for a total of 156 listings.
In terms of average monthly selling price, in July 2021, the value was $535,636, with houses on the market for an average of 26 days. In July 2020, the average selling price was $526,552, and houses were on the market for an average of 83 days.
In terms of buyers, with statistics available up until June 2021, 38.6 per cent of buyers were local, with 61.4 per cent listed as out of area.
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.
