The total value of residential transactions is now actually on a strong upward trend
The seemingly inexorable growth in home prices over the last few years has pushed New Brunswick out of its coveted standing as the province offering the cheapest residential properties in Canada, data from the Canadian Real Estate Association showed.
As of May, the province’s MLS composite benchmark price stood at $296,700 (up by 29.8% annually), while the benchmark price for single-family homes was at $297,800 (up by 29.6%), the CREA said.
To compare, the benchmark price in Saskatchewan was at $289,500 (up by just 3% annually), making it the new cheapest province in Canada to buy a home.
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So far, home sales in New Brunswick have moderated significantly compared to red-hot 2021 levels, which were largely driven by the economic and border reopening after the peak of the pandemic. 2022 sales activity is currently hovering at around 17% lower than last year’s performance, market players say.
“The number of buyers has slowed down, but there’s still multiple offers on every listing,” said Marcus Power, an agent based in Saint John.
However, the New Brunswick Real Estate Association also stressed that while the number of sales has decelerated, the opposite trend was observed when it comes to the value of these transactions.
“The dollar value of all home sales in May 2022 was $382.1 million, a sizable gain of 12.9% from the same month in 2021. This was a new record for the month of May and was also the largest dollar value of homes sold for any month in history,” the NBREA said.
