WECAR says the prediction is driven by interest rate stability, a strong local economy and growing consumer confidence.
While some parts of the province may be headed for a recession in 2024, Windsor is predicted to buck this trend according to a report released earlier this year.
“We are already seeing a resurgence in buyer confidence heading into the first part of 2024,” said WECAR president Maggie Chen. “Thanks to good economic tailwinds, strong business investment, and stable interest rates buyers and sellers are more confident heading into the spring. That should create a more active spring market compared to last year.”
Real estate market activity in Windsor-Essex has been picking up momentum through the first part of 2024. Year-over-year sales activity and listings are up from 2023 to 2024.
One of the variables impacting the real estate market are interest rates. Interest rates have held steady in 2024. The Bank of Canada is scheduled to make an interest rate announcement on April 10th, 2024. The Bank held its overnight lending rate at 5 per cent in March 2024, marking the fifth consecutive announcement where no change was made.
“New listings are up heading into the spring market and that’s good news for buyers,” said Krista Gionet, executive officer at WECAR. “One important thing to watch is the next interest rate announcement coming from the Bank of Canada in April. While it’s not clear if rates are going down anytime soon, the Bank has signaled that rates are likely to be stable as they continue to monitor inflation and broader economic conditions.”
While new listings are up in February 2024, WECAR says Windsor-Essex continues to struggle with building new homes. According to the province, Windsor missed its housing supply target of 953 housing starts in 2023. That means the city missed out on badly needed funds from the province for housing-related infrastructure.
“In 2024, Windsor must commit to putting the policies in place to get more homes built,” said Chen. “Although the city has made good progress on housing permits, we’re just not getting shovels in the ground on new homes. Realtors are committed to working with the city and its leaders to solve the housing affordability challenge.”
As the spring market picks up, WECAR is promoting the importance of working with a local realtor through its “We Bring You Home” campaign.
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.
