What to Expect in Fredericton’s Real Estate Market in 2017
FREDERICTON – After home sales in Fredericton reached a five-year high in 2016, 2017 is expected to be another busy year for real estate in the capital city.
The annual home sales figure totalled 2,024 units last year, up 6.6 per cent from 2015. The residential average price was $175,379 in December of 2016, up 5.7 per cent from the previous December. The annual average price was $180,707, up 2.2 per cent from 2015.
Fredericton Real Estate Board president Brad Thomas says they’re pleased with the final results of the year, saying that March and June were the busiest months of 2016 due to the increase in Land Transfer Tax and the HST increase.
The Real Estate Board says they’ve started 2017 on target and are expecting another busy year for their salespeople.
Fredericton realtor Pam Doak, of Pam Doak Realty, says the market has been a buyer’s one since 2014 due to high inventory, but that 2017 should be more balanced.
“Moving into 2017, I’ve seen an influx of people moving into the city and away from rural properties,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s the extra expense for travelling, maintenance on vehicles, that sort of thing or they just don’t want the maintenance of larger properties. We’re finding people want smaller properties to take care of.”
Doak says that this trend of downsizing is meaning more sales in the city and fewer on the outskirts. She says she sees smaller communities suffering since fewer people are now willing to drive the 30 minutes or more into the city. Doak says she’s seeing the most growth on Fredericton’s Northside since there is more raw land available there than on the Southside.
She adds that 2016 was a challenging year for first time home buyers especially due to October’s new mortgage rules, something she says had a negative impact on the market but says shouldn’t affect the coming year much.
“ I think the market starting in 2017 has been really good,” she says. “Right now it’s starting to balance itself out and I think … the housing prices are going to remain stable. I don’t think we’re going to see any big influxes of course. I see a lot of stability … and I’m seeing people talking more positively than they used to, which is great.”