STOREYS Real Estate News says markets across Canada have seen a “renewed fervour in recent weeks as buyers return from the sidelines, fuelled by a year of pent-up demand.”.The national sales-to-new listings ratio (SNLR) hit 63.5% in March, according to the latest report from the Canadian Real Estate Association, the tightest market in a year, as the number of newly listed homes fell, and sales edged up..An SNLR above 60% indicates a seller’s market, a ratio below 40% points to a buyer’s market, and anything in between suggests a balanced market, says STOREYS..None of Canada’s major markets currently favour buyers, however, balanced market conditions exist in Toronto, Edmonton, Saskatchewan, the Niagara Region, and Nova Scotia. .Sellers’ markets include Montreal, the Fraser Valley, Vancouver, Ottawa, Hamilton-Burlington, Saint John, and Calgary, with the latter, depending on how you look at it, at the top of the heap..Calgary’s SNLR is 86% and although Calgary has historically had prime buying conditions, Justin Warthe, a realtor with Re/Max House of Real Estate in the city, tells STOREYS the reason is migration from other parts of Alberta and Canada is driving demand for detached homes and townhouses, while investors have set their sights on the condo market..The Calgary Real Estate Board reported last week the city’s sellers’ market took the average sales price to $550,800, a new monthly record high, while inventory levels fell to 45% below long-term averages..Warthe says bidding wars have increased over the last 18 months, with some properties getting eight to 10 offers and selling $100,000 to $200,000 over asking. Two years ago, he said homes would see “a bid or two.”.“There’s a lot of positive sentiment happening in the market right now,” Warthe said. “Calgary is definitely the next Canadian market to watch and to invest in.”.On the east coast similar conditions are seen in Nova Scotia..The Nova Scotia Association of Realtors indicates new listings declined 20.6% annually in March to 1,273, the lowest number for the month in more than 15 years..“Halifax hasn’t seen a buyers’ market in three years,” Pam Cherington, owner of Red Door Realty told STOREYS, adding from the first quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2023, Nova Scotia’s population grew by 6.1%, surpassing 1 million people in Q1 2022..“There are so few properties on the market. We still have pent up demand from buyers, but people aren’t listing because there’s nothing for them to buy. Unless they’re moving out of province or to another market, there’s nowhere for these sellers to go,” says Cherington. “It’s difficult. It’s like a dog chasing its tail.”.It’s short of the “frenzy” of 2021 and 2022, but Cherington says properties are seeing multiple offers due to the substantial lack of supply. .“Nova Scotia ended March with 3.6 months of inventory, less than half of the 10-year average for the month,” she says, adding any home that has been “properly fixed up” will sell above the listed price..The City of Toronto is in balanced territory with an SNLR of 47.1%, but the Toronto Region Real Estate Board (TRREB) says a lack of listings is driving up the competition..TRREB reported last week sales were up 9.2% on a month-over-month basis, considered to be high demand in the face of dwindling supply, which pushed the average selling price to $1,153,269..STOREYS spoke to Marco Pedri, a broker with Shoreline Realty, who said buyers have “come to terms” with higher interest rates and are getting off the sidelines. While prices remain below the peak of 2022, albeit by less than 10%, he’s seen an uptick in multiple offer scenarios..“We are definitely seeing the market pick up,” he said. “On top of the normal spring market, what’s really driving the change is interest rates plateauing, and rumours that they’ll be going down in the fall. Buyers are choosing to ‘date the rate and marry the house,’ leading to a lot of competition.”.The lack of housing supply must be mentioned in every real estate discussion..Homeowners are reluctant to list their homes for fear of not being able to find a suitable replacement. .Developers and home builders cannot increase the supply quick enough, especially to meet the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) goal of 3.5 million new homes built by 2030, to achieve “housing affordability for all Canadians,” says CMHC..“There must be a drastic transformation of the housing sector,” said Aled ab Iorwerth, deputy chief economist at the CMHC. “Including government policies and processes, and an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ approach to increasing the supply of housing to meet demand.”
