Everything old is new again.
Peter Squire of the Winnipeg Real Estate Board rolled out his 2015 predictions at the annual Forecast Breakfast on January 21. 2015 is looking a lot like 2014.
| 2015 MLS Forecast | |
| Sales Types | |
| Home Sales | 0 to 2% |
| Home Prices | 0 to 2% |
| Condo prices | 2 to 4% |
| Total MLS Dollar Volume | 1 to 3% |
The 2015 forecast is relatively close to the 2014 results:
| 2014 MLS Results | |
| Sales Types | |
| Home Sales | 0.9% |
| Home prices | 2% |
| Condo prices | 2% |
| Total MLS Dollar Volume | 3% |
The average 2014 home price in Winnipeg was $288,486. Condos also rose slightly to an average sale price of $239,171. Both listings and average days on the market (30) increased in 2014.
Keynote speaker was Benjamin Tal, Deputy Chief Economist for CIBC World Markets Inc. Despite international concerns of a Canadian real estate bubble, he feels a crash is not necessarily in the cards. Tal says the real estate market won’t be tested till rates rise, and this won’t occur till at least 2016 or even 2017.
“The cycle is broken”, says Tal. First time buyers are having trouble getting into the market. As well, move-up homes are rising faster than entry homes, climbing out of reach for homeowners wanting to move up.
One positive Tal pointed out was that credit growth has fallen off. “Canadians deserve credit for not taking credit”, he said.
-Greg Petzold (Winnipeg)
