Ontario Construction News staff writer
Niagara’s real estate market was hot in January and experts say the area needs “a slew” of new housing.
“We’ve had numerous situations in the past few weeks where we have had upwards of 10 offers being presented on a property that has been on the market for less than a week,” Niagara Association of Realtors president Deanna Gunter said in the Niagara Falls Review.
The “extreme seller’s market” is especially tough for first-time buyers.
In its monthly report, the realtors’ association says the cost of a typical home in Niagara rose more than $5,000 from January to February to $438,700 from $433,600.
From February 2019 through last month, the price of a typical house in Niagara – determined by the MLS home price index – increased by 10.5 per cent.
In February 2019, that house stayed on the market for 61 days. Last month, it was 40 days.
“It’s a housing shortage,” Gunter said in the Review, adding that lobbying is continuing locally and provincially to reduce red tape and get homes built faster.
Last month across Niagara, the typical benchmark sale price for a home ranged from $342,600 in Port Colborne and Wainfleet to $729,500 in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Interest rates were cut recently and on April 6 financial stress-test qualifications are being eased for buyers who apply for mortgage default insurance from the CMHC.
A big part of the problem, Gunter said, is it can take several years from the time a developer acquires property until they’re ready to build and develop and to have approvals in place.