Winnipeg home prices forecast to rise three per cent

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This article was published 14/12/2023 (719 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg home prices will likely rise three per cent over the next year, Royal LePage forecasts.

In a report released Thursday, the real estate company outlines a four per cent increase in Winnipeg detached home prices and a two per cent hike for condominiums.

The average price for each home style should come to $440,232 and $263,568, respectively, according to the predictions.

“There’s not enough supply to fulfill all of the demand,” said Michael Froese, a broker and manager for Royal LePage.

Royal LePage expects the Bank of Canada to lower its key lending rate next year. It could boost demand from potential buyers who’ve been sidelined by higher interest rates, Froese noted.

“The demand for housing isn’t going anywhere — people want to own homes,” Froese said. “Some of that demand, though, this year, was shelved.”

A higher cost of living contributed to the market slowdown, he added.

The number of houses available for purchase has increased since pandemic-era lows, but it hasn’t returned to normal — supply is about 25 per cent short, Froese said.

As demand increases, and with a lack of supply, home prices will likely rise, he outlined. Immigration and new household formation will contribute to demand.

Froese believes Winnipeg will continue its usual real estate sales cycles — busier in the summer, slower in the winter — in 2024.

Mortgage renewals will come due in a higher interest environment. Some Winnipeg residents may have to sell their places, but that likely won’t be the norm, Froese stated.

“People are more likely to give up their Jets tickets than they are to give up their homes,’ he noted.

Generally, people have adapted their lifestyles amid the higher interest rates, he added. The Bank of Canada has raised its key policy rate 4.75 per cent, to five per cent, since March of 2022.

Nationally, Royal LePage expects home prices to increase most in the second half of 2024. It predicts home prices will rise 5.5 per cent year over year by the end of 2024.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com