Record number of homes sold in February

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This article was published 08/03/2016 (3535 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

More than a quarter of the people who purchased homes last month through the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) bought outside Winnipeg, new sales data show.

The Winnipeg Realtors Association said Tuesday 28 per cent of the record-breaking 816 properties sold in February through the local MLS were in communities outside of Winnipeg. That includes homes just outside the city — in places such as Oakbank, Headingley and East and West St. Paul — and ones as far away as Steinbach and Morris to the south, and Stonewall and Gimli to the north.

Last month’s percentage was up from 23 per cent in January and 25 per cent for 2015 as a whole, said Peter Squire, the WRA’s residential market analyst. While the share of rural sales has been greater than 20 per cent for the last five or six years, Squire said, “It’s never been higher than 25 per cent.”

He and WRA president Stewart Elston said it’s a trend Winnipeg councillors should keep in mind when deciding how much to raise property taxes, frontage levies, water and sewer rates and building-permit fees in 2016.

“I don’t see the rural areas ever outstripping us in a big way,” Elston said. “But there are some things our local government is talking about doing that could impact the Winnipeg market in the short term.”

Squire said the reality is more homes are being built in communities within commuting distance of Winnipeg, and whether it’s for affordability or lifestyle reasons, people are buying them.

“I don’t think it’s bad news. We want a healthy capital region, so we want them all (rural communities) to do well,” he added. “It’s just more of a reminder to Winnipeg that buyers… have choices as to where they want to live.”

Last month’s increase in rural sales helped propel the WRA to its best February on record for unit sales and dollar volume of sales — $222 million. It was also the first February in the association’s 113-year history in which more than 800 properties were sold and the dollar volume exceeded $200 million.

Last month’s sales total was a 21 per cent improvement from a year earlier, when 672 properties were sold, while the dollar volume was up 29 per cent from the February 2015 total of $172 million.

February was also a good month for the new-homes side of the local market. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said 255 new homes were started in the Winnipeg Census Metropolitan Area, which includes 10 neighbouring municipalities. That was a 57.4 per cent increase from the February 2015 total of 162.

The increased activity was evident on both sides of the new-homes market, with 24 more single-detached starts than in February 2015 — 123 compared with 99 — and more than twice as many multi-family starts — 132 compared with 63.

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca