Manitoba food price increases to trail national average in 2025: report

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This article was published 05/12/2024 (667 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Food prices will rise modestly next year, but Manitoba will trail behind the national average, a new report predicts.

Four universities released their annual Canada’s Food Price Report on Thursday. The 36-page document projects a three to five per cent increase in overall national food prices.

It’s a decrease from the five to seven per cent jump predicted in both 2022 and 2023.

Meat prices are likely to incline the most in 2025, at four to six per cent. Vegetable and restaurant prices follow with increases of three to five per cent, the report forecasts.

In general, Manitoba’s food prices rose 3.3 per cent in 2024, according to the report. Two years ago, the increase was 10.7 per cent.

A single Canadian family — consisting of an adult male and female, and a youth male and female — will pay $801 more on groceries this coming year, totalling $16,833, the report predicts.

Researchers believe food prices will modestly increase due to climate change, increased commodity prices and supply chain snarls resulting from issues such as labour disputes and truck driver shortages.

Dalhousie University (Halifax), the University of British Columbia, University of Guelph and University of Saskatchewan completed the report.

Winnipeg to see modest home price rise: Royal LePage

Winnipeg home prices will rise four per cent by the end of next year, Royal LePage forecasts.

It pegs the aggregate quarter-four 2025 house price at $417,040. The number rises to $461,685 when looking at the projected median price of a single-family detached home in Winnipeg — that’s a five per cent increase year-over-year.

Royal LePage released its 2025 market survey forecast Thursday.

Winnipeg has relatively stable housing conditions, Royal LePage broker Michael Froese noted in a news release. “We expect that prices will maintain a steady upward climb in 2025, as inventory remains modestly out of step with buyer demand.”

If interest rates continue declining, prices may gradually uptick. Potential first-time buyers waiting for lower interest rates may enter the market, Froese predicted.

“Falling interest rates will present a windfall not only to entry-level purchasers in 2025, but also those in the move-up and luxury segments of the market.”

Immigration drives much of the homebuyer demand in Winnipeg, he noted, adding the lower cost of living and employment opportunities are draws.

Royal LePage expects Winnipeg’s median condo price to rise three per cent, to $269,654, by the end of 2025.

— Free Press staff