Halifax Real Estate - A Modern Approach

We are fast approaching the busiest market place for real estate in HRM. Despite talk from the nay sayers and others, the Halifax Real Estate market is still alive and well.

Starting in January 2012, the dynamism of listings and sales has never ceased or abated. Coupled with an excess of inventory and low interest rates, combined with a tick of demand as result of the ship building announcement and discovery of oil off our beautiful coastline, the housing market is both hearty and strong. 

Though there was a small dip in the summer, as expected due to vacations and the exceptional weather we’ve been having, the Fall market is springing up even before a seasonal change. On MLS the number of homes listed daily is now equal to those with conditional offers. What’s more, even more inventory continues to flood the system in an attempt to grab more market share. 

Though sales are up across the municipality, the highest demand rests on peninsular Halifax. I have had the pleasure of working with clients, after my recent breakthrough in this market, who have each sold their properties for 98% of asking price within two days on the market. This kind of demand is, heretofore, unprecedented. 

My advice is, if you’re looking at selling your property and relocating, do so now. With the markets overseas continuing to be volatile and unstable, now is not the time to be greedy and wait. Take advantage of current market conditions and move now. You may make an additional 4% in a year, but that’s only if the market continues. Lessons learned, while situations that are benevolent last, more often than not they have a habit of tanking out. 

Fortune Favours the bold.

From CBC News - January 30th, 2012

The real-estate market in the Halifax area heated up after the announcement of a major ship-building contract, new figures show.

The Nova Scotia Association of Realtors statistics show sales increased 34 per cent by November 2011, compared to a year earlier.

Wayne MacIntosh, the president of the association, said he thinks it was a reaction to the $25 billion ship-building contract awarded by the federal government to Irving Shipyard in Halifax in October.

He said the increase in sales came as listings decreased by four per cent.

“That’s why our listings are down a little bit, because the sellers are holding off a little bit to see how things play out,” he said.

“The longer they hold off, they think they’ll be able to get a larger price for their homes.”

MacIntosh said there’s also a big demand for two-, three- and four-unit apartment buildings. He said there are not many of them on the market and those that are listed sell very quickly.

North End houses hard to find

Houses in the city’s North End — close to the shipyard — are especially scarce.

Darlene MacLeod and her husband listed their High Street home on Nov. 21. It sold ten days later for about $6,000 under the asking price.

“In that ten days, we had 15 people through the home,” she said.

Wayne Macintosh said people who had been undecided about home ownership made up much of the increase.

“I think it finally caused buyers to get off the fence and get out there and purchase something before the prices went up,” he said.

For more information, contact:

Andrew Murray

www.modernapproach.ca

andrew@modernapproach.ca

It’s amazing how just when a city and region is considered down and out, we get an announcement that is going to radically change the face of Halifax for at least the next twenty years. For those of you who don’t know (which is, I suspect, a great few), Irving Shipyard in Halifax won the largest portion of a federal contract to build warships for the Royal Canadian Navy. A ship building program of this size hasn’t taken place in Canada since the 40’s. 

What this means for Halifax, in terms of business, accumulation of wealth and way of life, is massive. Obviously, the population is going to increase slightly due to increased work in the city, whether from the rural areas of the province, or other provinces in the country. With the contract will come their pay cheques. With their pay comes either renting dwellings which are currently high in demand (means new ones need to be built to meet that demand - great for new construction), or new and old homes will be purchased. Of all the areas in the city that is going to be impacted by this contract the most, it will be North End Halifax.

Situated just within walking distance of the shipyards themselves, these relatively inexpensive homes have been on the upswing and the area has progressively increased in value over the course of the last ten years. With it being the closest to the shipyards themselves, these properties will be in heavy demand, and with demand comes higher prices. 

If you are currently thinking about purchasing your first home or condo, I highly recommend buying it in North End Halifax. The reason is simple - the money hasn’t arrived yet, and neither have any of the new workers with their new incomes. Buy in this area now, sit on it for a year or two, and you will be in very good shape when you’re ready to sell.