‘Got a lot of things going for us’: Winnipeg house sales continue steady rise

While Canadian home sales have fallen, Winnipeg has remained a bastion of house purchase growth.

The Canadian Real Estate Association tracked a 1.7 per cent month-over-month decline in home sales in September. It flagged Winnipeg as an outlier.

Nationally, the CREA had seen increases in month-over-month home sales since April. September sales were still the month’s best since 2021.

“Similar to other markets on the Prairies, (Winnipeg has) just outperformed this entire time,” said Shaun Cathcart, the association’s senior economist.

Year-over-year, the city has logged a 9.8 per cent jump in sales, Cathcart said. Just 2020 and 2021 marked higher gains. Both those years occurred during a COVID-19 pandemic-era boom in home sales.

Winnipeg logged 1,269 purchases in September, Cathcart said.

He pointed to the province’s relative affordability and migration, both interprovincially and internationally. He was echoed by Michael Froese, president of the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board.

“We’ve got a lot of things going for us,” Froese said Thursday.

Manitoba’s economy is diverse, preventing it from major booms and busts other provinces experience — for example, Alberta and oil prices.

“That helps to create demand — when people have more confidence in their jobs, when people have more confidence in the money that they’re spending (and) saving,” Froese said.

Interest rates have dropped since a recent high in April 2024; the Bank of Canada upped its key policy rate to curb inflation. Froese called Winnipeg a “safe haven” amid a higher cost of living and tariffs.

“Some markets hit the brakes,” he said of the 2025 housing scene. “We’ve been on the gas all year long, outpacing last year consistently.”

The Canadian Real Estate Association highlighted Edmonton, Ottawa, Calgary, Montreal and the Greater Vancouver Area as seeing lower sales activity last month.

Meanwhile, home prices in Winnipeg and surrounding areas continue to climb.

The average residential detached home cost $436,507 in September — a six per cent year-over-year increase, Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board data show.

“We are seeing a trend where some of that price growth that’s been over the last couple of years is winding down,” Cathcart said.

Nationally, government has tightened the number of immigrants it accepts, which changes demand. There’s also a limit on what people will pay for homes, Cathcart said.

The CREA is projecting a three per cent home price growth for Manitoba in 2026.

The province has lacked home supply for years. Winnipeg residents typically like residential detached properties; other metropolises, like Toronto, lean into condominiums, which can open more housing units at a time, Froese noted.

“It takes a long time to flip that supply,” he said of Winnipeg.

Condominium sales in Winnipeg and bedroom communities rose 16 per cent year-over-year in September, the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board reported. It counted 201 sales and an average condo price of $297,213 — up seven per cent from September 2024.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com