April 15, 2025
Whether we are tracking unit sales or average sale price, there is a trend that seems to happen, year after year, provided no extreme external pressures are being applied. And that is up in the spring and down in the fall.
February 17, 2025
I now have the January sales figures in from the Board. They are not precise. This concerns me when it comes to both number crunching and reporting. I’m not faulting anyone but the fact is that a couple of changes have occurred which skew the figures. The first, as we’ve discussed in the past, is that the industry over the past year or so has switched from average sale prices to HPI prices (Home Price Index) which zeros down on one type of sale.
January 15, 2025
Last month, as you recall, we were a little light on data in our market report. This was because our local real estate board, The Niagara Association of Realtors, was in the process of changing MLS service providers and it was taking time to implement the new systems and getting all the data transferred over.
December 16, 2024
The market report is going to be a little thin this month I’m afraid. Especially when it comes to specific data. The Niagara Association of Realtors (NAR) which we look to for our raw sales data is in the process of changing MLS data systems and the numbers for November are not currently available.
November 15, 2024
Not sure if it is due to the consistent drop in interest rates or the weather, or if it is a combination of both, but whatever the reason, the market is continuing strong long after we would normally see a downturn. And that is true both for average sale price and also for unit sales.
October 15, 2024
From 2023 on into 2024 history is repeating itself. 2022 as we’ve seen was a year unique unto itself. After coming off the frenzied real estate market of covid with its multiple offers and enormous price hikes, 2022 was a year of corrections. The market declined steadily from a February peak of $863,057 right down to a December low of $656,337. A drop of $206,720. Quite a drop.
September 16, 2024
This month marks the 2 ½ year mark since the robust real estate market of the covid era came to a halt, and what I’m going to call a real estate recession began. First with a steady erosion of prices over the balance of 2022 and a pretty rocky road since. This month also marks the third consecutive month where we have seen a 1/4 point cut in interest rates compliments of the Bank of Canada. So where does that leave us at this point?
As we watch the sales figures come in month by month and year by year, there are a couple of trends we need to keep in mind. The first is cyclical. What is happening seasonally? And the other is economic. What is happening overall due to market pressures brought about by interest rate fluctuations and inflationary changes?
July 15, 2024
To really understand the Canadian economy today especially as it is reflected in the Real Estate market, you need to travel back in time to the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Two factors need to be analyzed. Inflation rates and interest.