Soft Landing Predicted for Quebec Real Estate Market

A new report released today by the Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards (QFREB) shows that residential sales statistics for the province of Québec, based on the real estate brokers' Centris® provincial database. In total, 71,265 residential sales were concluded in 2013, which represents an 8 per cent decrease compared to 2012.

 Single-family homes, which was the only property category to register an increase in sales in 2012, posted the smallest decrease in sales in 2013, at -7 per cent (50,082 transactions). Plex sales fell by 9 per cent with 6,015 transactions, while condominium sales took the largest tumble in 2013, falling by 10 per cent (14,788 transactions) compared to 2012.

The vast majority of Québec's Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) and agglomerations finished the year with fewer sales than in 2012. Among the CMAs, only Sherbrooke performed better than the provincial average, with a 7 per cent decrease in sales.

In contrast, the Saguenay CMA, which registered the second-best performance in 2012, posted the largest decrease in sales in 2013 (-18 per cent). Most of the province's agglomerations registered a drop in sales in 2013, varying between -1 per cent in Sainte-Agathe and -27 per cent in Sept-Îles.

Among the few agglomerations that registered an increase in sales in 2013, Mont-Laurier performed well with a 23 per cent increase in sales, its second best annual result. In general, activity outside of the metropolitan areas had a less significant slowdown in sales (-4 per cent) as compared to all of the province's CMAs combined (-10 per cent), which reflects the smaller decreases in sales in the agglomerations.

For a third consecutive year, the number of active listings rose sharply in Québec in 2013, as an average of close to 71,000 residential properties were for sale by a real estate broker, a 9 per cent jump compared to 2012. "With the increase in the number of homes for sale, market conditions continued to relax in many areas of the province which, in general, translated into much more moderate price increases than in 2012," explained Paul Cardinal, Manager of the QFREB's Market Analysis Department.

Excavation Begins on Icon Bay Halifax (Bedford) Nova Scotia

Word has spread online that the developer has received word from the developer that excavation has begun for Icon Bay Halifax, Office Condo Development. This 21 floor condo tower is going to be located across the way from the Fairview Container Terminal on the edge of the urban/suburban landscape of Halifax.