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April 2020
| 'COVID-19 means big changes for realtors, home buyers and sellers'
~ Halifax Yvonne Colbert · CBC News · Posted: Mar 27, 2020
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 ... trading has not halted anywhere in Canada and it instead recommends agents try to limit or stop any work that requires personal interaction with others, including in-person appointments, property viewings and open houses... virtual tours... ...
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| Agents scrapping open houses as real estate industry responds to COVID-19 ~ Mar 20, 2020 By: Michael Lightstone, Halifax Today |
 ... due to the COVID-19 turmoil, he said, visiting a property in person has to be balanced with the greater good. “That’s the balance that we’re trying to strike right now,” said Honsberger, who’s also the president of NSAR ...
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| Market Watch - COVID-19 Weighing on The Housing Market
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 The Canadian real estate market is adjusting to tightened restrictions on doing business as properties continue to swap hands in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. ...
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| What is Mortgage Payment Deferral?
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 The Coronavirus crisis has left many homeowners in Canada without a job or with reduced hours and wondering how to pay their mortgage. Homeowners facing financial stress may be eligible for a mortgage payment deferral up to 6 months to help ease the financial burden. ...
read more |
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| Spring Home Maintenance Checklist
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 Keeping your home in top shape requires year-round care. While each season brings different tasks and challenges for homeowners, spring is an especially important time – it’s when to assess winter wear and prepare for summer. ...
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| Top Energy–Saving Tips for Your Home
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 Good energy habits help you save money and the way we use energy plays a big role in how much we’re paying for it. For example, if you leave the hot water running constantly while you’re shaving, you’re using a lot of hot water just to rinse the razor a few times. ...
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With Compliments of
Michele Vyge-Fraser
Real Estate Agent/ Associate Broker/ CNE®
Red Door Realty
1314 Martello Road
Chapter House
Halifax, Nova Scotia,
T: 902-830-6397
NovaScotiaRealEstate@gmail.com
www.RedDoorRealty.ca
Updated Sept 30, 2020
On Sept 30, 2020 I saw a facebook post that has me concerned because I think it may be misleading. It has prompted this newsletter addition. The post reads as follows;
'We are in a bubble about to burst. Prices went up 20% due to demand , fewer homes on the market. But with the second pandemic wave coming and mortgage deferrals just on the horizon and job stability lagging, values are still predicted to fall at the end of 2020. If you sold a property this summer you got lucky.....'
Needless to say, I opened the report and responded! My response and links to the full CMHC report plus an RBC report have now been added as the first article of this newsletter.
Here's what the report actually says...
'Overall Moderate degree of vulnerability
Overall, there is a moderate degree of vulnerability in the
Halifax housing market due to moderate overvaluation,
recent sharp increase in the price acceleration indicator
and the overheating indicator being above the critical
threshold at least once in the first quarter of 2020.
The emergence of further evidence of imbalances in
the above-mentioned three indicators will continue
to be closely monitored in these unprecedented times.'
~ Michele
August 26, 2020
Hello!
Wow! It's been quite a summer. As I write, a few weeks ahead of schedule, our local real estate market continues to be a hot sellers market and Red Door Realty has just launched our hot new website! (when you have a chance, please check out the link at the bottom of the page or in one of the articles below - would love to hear what you think of it!)
In this month's newsletter you will find a few more articles than usual that connect directly to our local Halifax real estate market, and to one particular article of note - a CBC news article that just came out on August 25. It's a very interesting article but also seems to include a cautionary note from Kelvin Ndoroa, a senior analyst with CMHC. He says '...Some of these risks include overvaluation, speculative demand and over construction'. While I appreciate Kelvin's outstanding data reports, I'm not sure I agree with his opinion. Simply put, I'm not sure that he totally appreciates who the buyers are who seem to be moving our market and where the demand is coming from.
These are unprecedented times. No one could have predicted the pandemic and no one could have anticipated the lifestyle re-evaluations many people would consider during the lockdown. Our market, pre-pandemic, was already in a sellers market, then we pressed 'pause'. Since then, especially over the last 3 months, we are continuing to see 'business as usual' plus some of the 'lock down' results of those lifestyle evaluations and decisions by locals and people from afar. I believe, at the most basic level, that this is creating the demand. Add the low interest rates, the ongoing construction to try to keep pace with our growing population combined with 'it's Nova Scotia's time again' and we seem to have a winning formula for a sustainably strong real estate market. But, since the data always trumps over opinion, I have done yet another review of our MLS® sales, specifically comparing MLS® data from 2019, January 1 - August 26, to January 1 to August 26, 2020. Here are the results.
Residential sales only...
- Across HRM, in 2019 there were 4515 MLS® solds compared to 4416 so far this year = only 2.24% fewer sales so far this year, compared to 2019, across HRM, a direct result of higher sales to listings ratios
- Just on Peninsula Halifax, south, central, west and north end, in 2019, there were 510 MLS® solds compared to 397 firm sales so far this year = 28.5% fewer sales so far this year, a direct result of low inventory
Just on the Peninsula, MLS® sales under $400,000 have been fewer compared to 2019 and so have the percentage of sales per price category - a direct result of increasing prices.
- $400,000 - $500,000 price range has also seen fewer sales compared to 2019 yet accounts for 3.7% more of the 2020 sold market so far (23.7% of the 2020 market)
- $500,000 - $600,000 price range has also seen fewer sales compared to 2019 yet accounts for 1.1% more of the 2020 sold market so far (12.3% of the 2020 market)
- $600,000 - $700,000 price range has more sales compared to 2019 and accounts for 2.3% more of the 2020 sold market so far (8.3% of the 2020 market)
- $700,000 - $800,000 price range has seen fewer sales compared to 2019 and accounts for .2% less of the 2020 sold market so far (4.5% of the 2020 market)
- $800,000 - $900,000 price range has more sales compared to 2019 and accounts for .9% more of the 2020 sold market so far (3.3% of the 2020 market)
- $900,000 - $1,000,000 price range has seen fewer sales compared to 2019 yet accounts for .2% more of the 2020 sold market so far (1.8% of the 2020 market)
- $1,000,000 plus price range has seen fewer sales compared to 2019 and accounts for .6% less of the 2020 sold market so far (3.3% of the 2020 market)
It will no doubt be interesting to compare HRM at large to these Peninsula price category percentages at the end of the year.
I hope you enjoy what's left of summer. Please contact me anytime, especially with any of your real estate questions, needs and/or goals!
With Gratitude,
Michele
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NATIONAL MORTGAGE RATES |
| Term |
Posted
Rates* |
Best
Rates* |
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6 Months |
3.34% |
3.30% |
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1 Year |
3.59% |
3.04% |
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2 Years |
3.74% |
2.89% |
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3 Years |
3.89% |
2.79% |
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4 Years |
3.95% |
2.95% |
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5 Years |
5.34% |
2.69% |
|
7 Years |
5.80% |
2.99% |
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10 Years |
6.10% |
3.04% |
|
Variable Rate |
2.90% |
|
Prime Rate ** |
3.95% |
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*last updated: Feb 18,2020 |
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