Milestone Month
The weather may be getting colder but the market is still hot! Month after month, record-setting sales have been recorded in Manitoba. In fact, year-to-date sales have surpassed 15,000 for the first time ever. Not only have year-to-date sales been up, but the dollar volume of sales is up by millions of dollars indicating a strong market which has carried through into the winter months.
Sales of homes over $500,000 last month almost DOUBLED as compared to the same month of last year. A third of all listings sold for above list price, which indicates that buyers are willing to do whatever they can to secure that home. With numbers like that, you may be asking what happens when the supply doesn’t meet the demand? Although there has been no shortage of condos or attached dwellings in Manitoba, we have seen an increase in vacant land purchases by almost 70% this year...if you can’t find it, build it!
Things to Watch this Month?
With the approval of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and the impending mass immunization in the coming months, we remain optimistic about the reverberations these efforts will have on the real estate market in Canada. Although the pandemic is far from being over, landmark events such as these have the potential to put our economy back on track. Other market hindrances caused by the pandemic, such as decreased immigration and reduced numbers of temporary residents in Canada will likely be addressed in the short term, alleviating some of the pressure the market has faced.
As we have all adapted to a “new normal”, experts believe some of these adaptations to society will continue past the pandemic. BMO economist Jennifer Lee suggests buyers will continue to look for more space in a work-from-home boom which may not end with the pandemic[1]. Other trends, such as the desire for properties outside of the urban center, have been noted across the country[2]. This trend has also been seen in rural Manitoba. Of the 84 vacant lots sold in November, only 5 were located in Winnipeg[3].
Record low interest rates and increased buying demand has continued to motivate the market for the past few months and we expect to see a dynamic market in 2021.
[1] Pittis, D. (2020). COVID-19 has made reading next year’s real estate marker harder than ever. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/covid-real-estate-market-1.5838528
[2] Staff, N. (2020). The hottest real estate market in Ontario is just outside Toronto. Now Toronto. https://nowtoronto.com/lifestyle/real-estate/hottest-real-estate-market-in-ontario-outside-toronto
[3] Squire, P. (2020). 15,000 MLS sales with a month to go. Winnipeg Realtors Market Release. https://www.winnipegrealtors.ca/market-statistics/archived-market-releases/article/551/15-000-mls-r-sales-with-a-month-to-go
