Happy New Year's everyone!  

I’m back with another highly anticipated blog about Real Estate! (Yay!). I’m not going to lie this one is going to be the best one I have ever done. It’s going to be full of riveting facts and numbers. Basically, this is going to be a 2022 market year in review, as well as my insights of the upcoming year ahead. I know you are all waiting anxiously, so here we go.  

First, I know you have heard me talking about “months of supply” before. Well, here we go again. For those who can’t remember my last posts about monthly supply (it’s ok, I forgive you), it’sessentially the amount of time it would take for all our real estate inventory to sell, if nothing were listed based on the current rate of sales.  0-3 months of inventory is deemed to be a Seller's Market. Which means that we start to see upward price growth on sale prices (if you were living under a rock the last couple years, you would have seen the average sale price increase aggressively). 3-6 months would be considered a balanced market, with stable sale prices. From 6 months onward we would be considered in a Buyer's Market and would start seeing downward price pressure.  

Are you ready for numbers? Here we go! In 2019, we had 2.9 months of inventory. The average sale price was $307,528. It increased by 9.95% when we had a balanced market.  2020 saw a drop in inventory to 1.3 months. Then, for the crazy year that was 2021. We saw only 0.5 months (this was unstainable). 2022 saw a little hike back to 1.6 months. The peak of the market was in the Spring of this year (remember the peak, as I will bring it up again).  

The number of sales and new listings are also remarkably interesting. 2020 saw 7,142 sales that year. Which was a 14% increase over 2019.  Fast forward to 2022, we saw 5,151 sales. This was a decrease of –27.4% compared to 2021. That being said, 2022 had 6,630 new listings hit the market. Which was a decrease of –11.7% from 2021.  In summary, we saw less sales in 2022, but also less listings hit the market.  Things are getting tight out there, and we are finding ourselves still in a tight Seller's market.  

The last couple of years has been a whirlwind as I'm sure you know. You were paying attention to the market and heard and saw properties going above the asking price. Properties in 2020 were going for an average of 102.1% over list price. 2021 saw 110.6%, and 2022 was sitting at 99% over ask. At the peak (remember when I said that was? Go back and read again. I’ll give you a minute.), homes were selling for 122% of their asking price which was a horrendous market for home buyers. The positive note is now Buyers have more leverage than the last couple of months. Price negotiations are back on the table as well as conditional offers (I.e., Home inspections and financing.). However, the best properties with the right pricing and location are still obtaining multiple offers.  

Which segways my next topic of average sale prices. We all know that in the last couple of years, we have seen an increase of home sale prices. For your sake, I will just focus on the last two years. 2021 average sale price in the HRM (for my worldwide fans, HRM stands for Halifax Regional Municipality.) of $492,766. This was an increase over 2020 of 22.9%.  As of December of 2022, Halifax home prices were $507,534. Which means we saw an increase of 3%, but 15.5% lower than they were at the peak (see, I did it again.). This would be because of the rising interest rates. These rates created uncertainty and fear among Buyers (Affordability, not knowing how high the rates will go, and how it will affect real estate values). I am hearing through my many networks that we might see one more rate increase and then see it plateau (I am not a fortuneteller, so do not come after me if this is not true). 

Yes, I know there is a little apprehensiveness towards today's mortgage rates. This might come as a surprise to you, I am not a mortgage guru, but I will try to give you a glimpse of what buying a home today would look like.  

Ok, here is the scenario. You bought a $600,000 house in April 2022 when the mortgage rates were roughly 3.5%. You also put down 10% and amortized for 25 years. Using the mortgage calculator provided by www.wigmoresellshalifax.com (insert plug of own website here), that would bring your mortgage payment to $2,780 a month.  

Fast forward to the present day. Based on the average price decrease of 15.5% we saw. The same house in December 2022 might be worth $506,768 now. The current interest rate is approximately 5.9%. Putting down the 10% and amortization of 25 years (same terms as before), you are now looking at a monthly payment of $2,981. Sure, the mortgage rates are a little higher now, but the average price has seen a decrease. This would mean that the same house you bought today would only be an extra $200 a month more than if you purchased in April. Not that bad if you think about it eh?  

The Halifax market going forward in 2023 is going to be exciting. As much as you are hearing in the media about the housing market crash. I would have to say that is simply not happening here. I can’t speak to other markets, but analysts like to focus on the bigger cities and report on them (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, etc.). I just read an article by the Halifax Chronicle Herald, stating that this city was the second-fastest growing city in the country (https://www.saltwire.com/halifax/business/halifax-is-the-second-fastest-growing-city-in-the-country-100813755/).  

Between June 2021, and June 2022, there were 28,000 people that had moved to Nova Scotia. The next highest year was only 11,000. We are growing fast. Which is another reason we are seeing high demand for buying real estate and such low inventory to sell (lack of supply and high demand).  

Alright, you made it to the end of the blog. Congratulations, you did it! I know that there were a lot of numbers and a lot of exciting real estate talk to go through, but hopefully you learned a little bit about what is going on out there. It’s not as scary as the media has you believe. Remember, that’s what I'm here for. It’s my job to make it as easy as possible for you to buy or sell. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me to get the ball rolling.  

Don't hesitate to reach out to yours truly. Let me know what you think about this blog. Or, if you just want to call to chat. I'll be there for you (insert Friends theme song here).  Until we meet again my devoted followers (Hi mom). 

Cheers,