Is the province still benefiting from strong inward migration?
From the pandemic-era doldrums that saw significant market cooling despite robustness in residential construction, Nova Scotia is now seeing sustained demand fuelled by stronger inter-provincial and international migration, according to market players.
"We are seeing [an influx of] people from other provinces, [although] not nearly [to the level of] what we were seeing during COVID," according to John Vo, broker and partner at Spicer Vo Mortgage.
Vo was speaking on a recent episode of Canadian Mortgage Professional’s CMP Talk podcast.
He said that Nova Scotia is particularly benefiting from a ripple effect of migrants encouraging their friends and family from other regions to move to the province.
Affordability continues to be Nova Scotia’s main attraction. Data from the Nova Scotia Association of Realtors showed that the average price of homes sold in March 2023 was $404,912, representing an annual decline of 10.5%.
Price levels are also likely to remain stable, as March home sales fell by 38.9% annually for a total of 725 transactions – a sales level that was 32.1% below the five-year average and 19.6% below the 10-year average for that month.
For more insights on the Nova Scotia housing market, click here.
