CMHC (Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation) recently released the latest report on the housing market in Barrie, Ontario.  There were a number of interesting insights that can be extracted from the document.

New home construction has slowed in the 2nd quarter of 2013, falling to its lowest level in 5 quarters.  Builders started construction on only 134 dwellings, this equated to a 28% decline when matched against the previous year.  Condominiums have shown particular weakness in both Barrie & Innisfil.  Demand should grow for new construction but inventories are growing at a faster rate.  Recent job creation & income growth should boost consumer confidence & fuel real estate acquisitions.

The resale market enjoyed gains of more than 5% when compared to the previous year.  Strong buyer interest in the spring market helped drive new homeownership sales.  Much of this was initiated by the over-heated Toronto market which has driven first-time home buyers north of the city to find affordable housing.  Rising employment in the 25 – 44 year old demographic has been the main source of first-time home buyers.  This age group has experienced significant gains in full-time employment over the last three quarters adding to the housing demand.  This is also reflected in the rental vacancies edging up in 2013.  Limited inventory has been a dampening factor on the real estate market in previous quarters but the second quarter showed an increase in listings.  This provided more choice for buyers, boosting sales but still wasn’t enough to meet the demand.  This means that it is still a sellers’ market, moving prices up.  Average resale prices increased by 7% over the same period a year earlier.

While most of the good news was tied to resale home, new home sales should pick up steam in 2014 as the housing market in Barrie continues to grow at a steady pace.

Darren Robinson is a professional Barrie mortgage broker, dedicated to offering the best mortgage strategies and provides personal assistance to help people qualify for difficult mortgages and loans. Call 705.737.6161