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“It's quite normal to hear of a change and see it as a problem,

but it's probably an opportunity, depending on how quickly you can adjust” 
 – Jim Pattison

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It's been an interesting start to spring with the unforeseen events south of the border fostering uncertainty in the market. This instability led the Bank of Canada to its seventh consecutive interest rate drop this past week with the overnight lending rate now at 2.75%. 

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We shall see how this increase in buying power affects overall demand moving forward. There were about 20% more sales recorded for February than January, though this past month's sales were 12% below those of February 2024 and about 29% below the 10-year average.

 

The overall composite benchmark price remains steady, being just 1% below where it was at this time last year.  The sales-to-active-listings ratio increased slightly to 15%. This ratio is essentially an indicator of supply versus demand. Broken down by property type, it was 11% for houses, 19% for townhomes and 17% for condos. 

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Generally, analysts say downward pressure on prices tends to occur when demand falls below 12% for a prolonged period of time, while prices tend to increase when the ratio is sustained above 20%.

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Other changes of note are the removal of the IDRPO form during the "delayed offer" process. What this means to consumers is that they are no longer legally bound to wait until a certain day to submit or review offers, regardless of whether the sellers initially decided to go that strategic route. Now, if a great offer comes in before the previously determined offer submission date, sellers have the ability to accept that offer. 

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The government is also proposing changes to the Property Transfer Tax whereby the PTT will now be applicable to beneficial transfers. What this means is that previously non-taxable trades such as the sale of shares of a company that owns real estate may now be subject to PTT. 

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I'm getting a lot of questions about the possibility of increased immigration from the US to Canada and the corresponding impact on the market. Although the number of online searches by Americans researching a potential move has indeed increased, we do have a foreign buyer ban in place with these exemptions. 

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For those of you who would like to stay ahead of market shifts, we have by-the-week statistics available which provide insights into recent sales numbers and new listing counts by area.  Let us know if you would like these or any other information about specific communities or properties. 

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If you have any other questions about the market or how any of this information may impact your opportunities, I'm here to discuss or assist in whatever way I can.

You can see the full real estate market report and press release from GRV here.

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