While Winnipeg may be known for its (ridiculously) cold temperatures, its real estate market is undeniably hot right now.
And though the city’s real estate market fell short of sky-high September 2020 sales figures, Winnipeg did break three records in the third quarter of 2021.
According to the WRREB, the year-to-date dollar volume had climbed to new heights at just under $5 billion, surpassing 2020’s $4.9 billion. The condo market also saw record-breaking numbers, with 2,014 condominium sales in the first nine months of 2021. This breaks the record of 1,847 set last year. Furthermore, the 1,081 sales of residential-attached properties is slightly above the 2020 record of 1,060.
“The new peak for annual dollar volume is a combination of increased sales and higher prices,” said Kourosh Doustshenas, 2021 President of the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board.
“As for condominiums, the growing spread between single-family detached homes and condominium average sale prices in 2021 have made the latter property type an even more affordable option for buyers, especially first-time buyers who do not have the benefit of equity gains from the sale of their existing home. Moreover, residential-attached properties offer another affordable option.”
According to WRREB -- while single-family detached homes and vacant land was not able to keep pace with last year’s third quarter surging sales -- condominiums, duplexes, and commercial properties all made gains compared to the same period last year. “Duplexes stood out with 81 sales in 2021 versus 48 in 2020,” reads the report.
According to Doustshenas, a number of Winnipeg neighbourhoods did not meet the “unrelenting demand” for single-family properties.
“No better example is in the southwest Winnipeg neighbourhood of Whyte Ridge, where there were 12 sales in September and only one listing left for sale in October,” reads the report. “This translates to a sales-to-active listings ratio of 1200%. River Park South in southeast Winnipeg had 23 sales, leaving only three listings available for sale in October.”
According to the WRREB, the current supply listing was down 28% at the end of September compared to 2020. Meanwhile, new or current listings were down 16% from 2020, and 19% from 2019.
Winnipeg’s tight supply is not unique; it’s a situation we’re seeing play out in cities across the country. Toronto, of course, is certainly no exception.
The good news for Winnipeg’s house-hunters, however, is that purchasing a half-decent home is a much easier pill to swallow on the financial front. The year-to-date average sales price for a single-family home is $379,056.
Frankly, Winnipeg -- and the also relatively affordable Calgary, for that matter -- have never sounded so appealing. Harsh winters or not.
