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Manitoba’s Monthly Real Estate Update

It is clear that COVID 19 has impacted the real estate market throughout Manitoba.  Both the number of new listings and sales are still moderately down, which is not a surprise.  In fact, In May sales were down 8% overall compared the same month last year.  However, even with this disappointing information, May still showed more good news than bad. 

Let’s Start with the Market

Overall, it looks as though COVID 19 has turned off part of the market engine but the cylinders that are still working are functioning at full capacity.  For instance, most neighborhoods in Winnipeg saw more houses sell in May than new listings come on the market.  Some submarkets even saw an increase in home values which experts suspect is due to high demand but lower supply since owners are not listing properties.[i]  In any event, this is a good indication of healthy demand. Even more encouraging is that sales of vacant land are up nearly two fold, suggesting people are not hesitating to start building as spring emerges.

Is It Too Early to Say Recovery?

From a recovery perspective, Manitoba has seen a 68% increase in sales in May 2020 compared to April 2020.  It appears the shift started in the second half of May where sales were actually higher than that of May 2019.  This is very encouraging news. 

What About The Rental Market?

The Huffington Post recently claimed that nationally, after years of rapidly increasing rent, rents are now dropping on average by 3%.  Winnipeg, on the other hand, has actually seen a 5% increase in rent from last year.  It seems Landlords are offering incentives instead of decreasing rent to weather the impact of COVID 19.[ii]

How About Unemployment?

The news that 3 out of 10 Canadians lost their jobs or took pay cuts since March is concerning.  Furthermore, Manitoba’s unemployment roughly doubled in just two months from 5% to 11%.  There are, however, some silver linings in this news.  Firstly, Manitoba has seen lower job loss than the national average, currently suspected to be 13%.  Additionally, the majority of the jobs lost were by people between the ages of 15 -24.[iii]  Vulnerable, part time or temporary workers have been the most susceptible. [iv] This age demographic is among the least likely to purchase a house and suggests the impact to the real estate market may not be drastic. 

Manitoba: Tried, Tested and True

Manitoba has always been known for sensibility and stability.  Winnipeg is a highly desirable city for franchises to test new products before releasing them nationally or internationally.  In fact, some of the first people to ever taste a Chicken McNugget were Winnipegers.  As we all do our part to comply with government regulations such as social distancing, we can rest assured that this stability will help power us through these uncertain times to a healthy future.

GVS News

In an effort to support the Black Lives Matter movement and more broadly the fight against racism GVS will be donating a portion of all appraisals ordered in the month of June to Black Lives Matter Foundation Inc.