Cape Breton home sales sluggish
Average house price in June was $131,916
Housing sales figures released for the second quarter show little good news for Cape Breton’s economy.
So far in 2016, residential sales are down 14 per cent in the Cape Breton region, which covers the Cape Breton Regional Municipality and Victoria County.
Inverness and Richmond counties are lumped in with the Highland region, which also includes Antigonish and Guysborough counties.
The Nova Scotia Association of Realtors released the statistics for April, May and June on Wednesday.
While sales are down overall for the year to date, the number of properties currently on the market last month was up 14 per cent with 627 active listings over figures from June 2015.
Sydney realtor Mary Ann MacCormick said sellers are receiving approximately 83 per cent of the asking price for their home — down from 90 per cent at this point last year.
The average sales price of a home in Cape Breton last month was $131,916 — a statistically insignificant 0.8 per cent increase from 2015.
The increased inventory on the market has sellers readjusting sales prices downward, MacCormick said.
“There are more choices for the buyer looking around,” she said.
“People are reducing the prices of their homes even though they’re originally priced, hopefully, at market value.”
She said buyers could be taking their time examining their options if there are multiple homes that fit their criteria and that will often “drag the prices down on their offers.”
Homes in Cape Breton were also staying on the market longer in June — an average of 101 days — before a sold sign is posted.
In comparison, within the Halifax-Dartmouth region, the average time it took to sell a home in June was 58 days.
MacCormick said the real estate industry is “cyclical” and there’s no set pattern consistent from year to year.
She said there’s typically a demand for housing priced in the range of $80,000-$160,000.
There’s also been an interest in people looking to buy duplexes or triplexes as income properties, said MacCormick.
However, the sluggish economy hasn’t provided the type of return on investment those property owners would have wanted, she said.
“People who have bought investment properties (and) probably had a five-year plan in mind are not getting the increase now when they’re trying to sell them.
“They’re not really seeing the profit that they thought they were going to see and that’s because prices are not going up the same way they were in the past.”
The Canadian Real Estate Association provided some good news as reported sales activity is forecast to continue to push higher in Nova Scotia in 2017, “reflecting the prevailing forecast for improving economic prospects.”
While she doesn’t have statistics to back up an increase in sales, MacCormick said anecdotal evidence is suggesting an increase in activity in July.
“Just recently it’s gotten very, very busy,” she said.