The good news in May is Winnipeg listing inventory is in better shape going into June than it has been in a long time. There is a good influx of new listings in early June which will mean a healthier supply of homes in the summer months. With over 2,000 residential-detached listings, you have to go back to May 2001 to find a comparable supply. Contrast this total with 2007, the busiest May and year on record where there were only 1,153 residential-detached listings.

Sales in May 2010 slightly edged out May 2009 but were well off the torrid pace set in May 2007. May MLS® unit sales were up 2% while dollar volume rose 17% in comparison to the same month last year. Year-to-date MLS® sales are up 9% while dollar volume has risen 21% over the same period in 2009. The over 8,000 listings entered on the MLS® this year are up 8% from 2009 and the highest amount in 11 years.

We had the best of both worlds in May with house prices remaining firm yet more listings coming on the market to provide buyers with better selection to choose from,” said Claude Davis, president of the WinnipegREALTORS®.

For residential-detached sales, the most active price ranges were $200,000 - $249,999 and the $150,000 - $199,999. They represented 23% and 19%

respectively of total sales. A more distant third price range was the $250,000 - $299,999 at 14%. The average days on market for sales of residential-detached listings was 21 days, the same as last month and 6 days quicker than May of 2009.

In April WinnipegREALTORS® reported over 1,300 sales through the MLS®, only the second time in April when sales have reached this level. Unit sales were up 14% while dollar volume soared 26% in comparison to the same month last year. Year-to-date MLS® sales are up 12% over the same period in 2009 while dollar volume continues its record-setting pace with an increase of 23%. It is only the fourth time in

WinnipegREALTORS® 107-year history that the monthly dollar volume level of $300 million has been attained. With over 2,000 new listings in April it is the highest they have been for this month since 1998. 

 “All indicators show consumer confidence remains high as sellers and buyers are keen to enter our MLS® market in large numbers,” said Claude Davis, president of WinnipegREALTORS®. “Helping things along are the spring market where activity always heats up and there is added motivation this year with higher mortgage rates on the horizon, if not already creating a stir with small incremental rate increases.”

For residential-detached sales, the most active segment of the MLS® market in April was the $200,000 to $249,999 price range with 22% of total sales. Next most active were the price ranges immediately below and above this one as they represented 18 and 16% respectively. The $100,000 to $149,999 and the $300,000 to $349,999 price ranges each had 11% of total sales. Average days on market for residential-detached sales in April was 21 days or three weeks, 5 days faster than last month and 10 days ahead of April 2009.

WINNIPEGREALTORS is stepping up its campaign to pressure the provincial government into changing its

controversial land transfer tax.

The association has set up a website (www.2muchltt.com) where homebuyers and other Manitobans can learn more about the tax and the changes it has requested from the government. It also provides a link for Manitobans to call or email their MLA to express any concerns they have about the tax.

The land transfer tax is a provincial tax homebuyers must pay before the title to their new home can be transferred to their name and they can take possession. Because it's a graduated tax based on the selling price of a property, the higher selling prices rise, the more tax revenue the province takes in. For example, in 2007 it collected $38.2 million, and by 2009 that figure had jumped to $49.6 million.

The tax rate is 0.5 per cent for the portion of the selling price between $30,000 and $90,000, one per cent between $90,000 and $150,000, 1.5 per cent between $150,000 and $200,000 and two per cent on anything above $200,000. So someone who buys a home for $300,000, for example, pays $3,650 in land transfer taxes.

The WINNIPEGREALTORS wants Manitoba to follow the lead of other provinces and exempt first-time buyers from having to pay the tax. It also wants it to reduce the burden on other buyers by either indexing the tax rates or adjusting the brackets on which they are applied. The only change the province has made in the 22 years since it introduced the tax as a way of offsetting the cost of registering land transfers was to boost the maximum rate to two per cent in 2004 from 1.5 per cent. Yet during that same period, the average selling price of a home in

Winnipeg has soared by 300 per cent to nearly $230,000.

Signs of spring are all around you. Real estate signs that is, as the Winnipeg real estate market got a head start on spring with listings, sales, and dollar volume all warming up to busier market conditions in March. Dollar volume continues its upward trajectory with $200 million easily surpassed for the first time in March. MLS® sales rivaled the best March ever in 2007 with over 1,100 and you have to go back to 2000 to find a better market for new listings.

Quite simply put, March 2010 is a vast improvement over a poor March 2009 and head and shoulders above any other March in terms of dollar volume. Another indicator of a more active market to close off the first quarter is the fact three out of five homes sold at or above list price. REALTORS® also were instrumental in selling 50% of homes in March for above list price. It seems that more urgency has crept into our market in terms of people wanting to take advantage of more favourable financial conditions before rates start heading up.

For residential-detached sales, the most active price ranges were the $200,000 to $249,000 and the $150,000 to $199,999. They represented 21 and 19% respectively of total sales. Not far behind was the $250,000 to $299,999 price range at 16%. The average days on market of sales of residential-detached listings was 26 days, 3 days faster than last month and 4 days less than March 2009.

I am available at anytime to discuss the Real Estate market. Get the FACTS. Whether buying, selling or if you just have questions, call me. I would be pleased to assist you, your friends or your family with your Real Estate needs.

The City of Winnipeg has just added to the cost of purchasing/selling a home in Winnipeg. A city council committee has approved a plan that will require homeowners to prove all additions, sheds, decks and other work complies with zoning regulations before properties are sold. The bylaw requires home buyers to obtain zoning memorandums within two months of purchasing residential properties.

In effect, home sellers will wind up paying for the memorandums, which will cost $100 for new homes or $180 for existing homes. The city plans to spend $301,000 to hire five additional inspectors to ensure the memoranda are processed quickly enough to ensure property sales are not affected. Some Real Estate experts have expressed skepticism five new inspectors will enable the city to keep up with demand. They also claim the real cost to people selling their homes will be well over $180, as some will be required to obtain surveyors' certificates at an additional cost of $300 to $500.

Some other changes to the Real Estate market were announced earlier this month by the finance minister Jim Flaherty. After determining earlier this year that it was not a good economic decision to increase interest rates the finance minister recently announced the following changes to mortgage lending.

• Borrowers will be required to meet the standards for a five-year fixed rate        mortgage. The maximum amount that Canadians can withdraw when refinancing their mortgages will be lowered from 95 per cent to 90 per cent of the value of their homes.
• Minimum 20 per cent down payment for government-backed mortgage insurance on non-owner-occupied properties purchased for speculation.     

I am available at anytime to discuss the Real Estate market. Get the FACTS. Whether buying, selling or if you just have questions, call me. I would be pleased to assist you, your friends or your family with your Real Estate needs.

Winnipeg’s Real Estate market shook off early year recession concerns and another major flood to post a much better second half and end the year with a strong result. It is a reflection of strong market fundamentals and the continued strength of the local economy which is supporting increased population growth.

MLS Real Estate sales numbered 12,182 in 2009, off only 7.4% from the record setting year of 2007. The average days on the market for sales was 29 days in 2009, 33% of all sales sold for greater than list price, 10% sold at list price and 57% sold for less than list price. Most impressive was the fact that the dollar volume of sales was 2.5 billion dollars, a new record for Winnipeg.

Resale housing transactions generate significant economic activity in and of themselves. For every house sale, it generates $40,000 worth of economic spin-offs. If you put MLS residential sales in 2009 at 11,382 allowing for removal of vacant lots, commercial properties, mobile homes and rural properties, you arrive at a total economic impact of over $450 million. Direct and indirect jobs are created as well.

In December the Bank of Canada had floated the idea of raising interest rates to cool off Canada’s hot Real Estate market. On January 11th in a speech in Edmonton, bank official David Wolf ruled out increasing interest rates to discourage mortgage lending. That would mean cooling off all economic activity. Wolf said “We would, in essence, be dousing the entire Canadian economy with cold water, just as it emerges from recession."

It appears with sustained low interest rates and consistent demand for housing 2010 will be yet another strong year for Real Estate sales in Winnipeg.

I am available at anytime to discuss the Real Estate market. Get the FACTS. Whether buying, selling or if you just have questions, call me anytime. I would be pleased to assist you, your friends or your family with your Real Estate needs.