By Leslie Sanders
The real estate markets in Northern Ontario have seen high sales throughout this turbulent year.
Favourable interest rates have kept realtors busy during months that are normally quiet.
Low interest rates have made it possible for first-time buyers to purchase a home, and for veteran buyers to upgrade.
“In certain markets it is cheaper to own a house than to rent right now,” says Dan Gray, president of the Sudbury Real Estate Board.
Sudbury has seen a major increase in sales since 2000; 1,925 residential units were sold in 2001, compared to 1,807 sold in 2000 - an increase of 119 residential units sold from the previous year.
“I attribute the increase to buyers’ confidence in the market,” Gray says.
The market has seen a trend toward an increase in the sale of homes from the $160,000 and up range over the past few years.
“It’s usually the homes priced within the $100,000 to $150,000 range that make up the large piece of the Sudbury market,” Gray explains. “Although now it seems the next range is taking up a big slice of the pie.”
This is the result of upgrading to a larger home, he points out.
“Most families need a bigger home for their growing family,” Gray says.
Thunder Bay has seen much of the same increases in the sales of larger homes.
“There seems to be a trend of buyers wanting houses priced in the $120,000 to $180,000 range,” says Diane Erickson, president of the Thunder Bay Real Estate Board.
The Thunder Bay market has witnessed a sales increase by 14 homes within the first three months of 2002, in comparison to 2001.
This year 316 homes have been sold to date, with their average listing time only running from 60 to 90 days.
“I attribute the increase in sales to the low interest rates that are available and the confidence that the residents of Thunder Bay seem to have in our market,” Erickson says.
Sault Ste. Marie saw some sales increases as well.
Statistics for 2002 from January to March show a figure of $18.3 million in sales. That number comes from the sale of about 200 homes. The same period in 2001 saw $15.4 million in the sale of 167 houses.
“I attribute the increase to the (establishment of the) steel plant and the call centres,” Donald J. MacDonald, president of the Sault Ste. Marie Real Estate Board, says.
This year the Sault has experienced a trend of buyers purchasing homes from the $140,000 and over range.
Although homes are not selling as fast as they are in other areas of the North, “a lot of the homes that are selling now were listed a year ago,” MacDonald says.
Timmins did not see the kinds of increases that some of the bigger centres saw.
“The market has stayed pretty much the same since last year,” Roberta Toner, public relations officer for the Timmins Real Estate Board, says.
The trend in the Timmins market seems to be for lower-priced houses around the $70,000-mark.
“Houses usually stay on the market for anywhere between three months to 100 days,” she explains.
The average price for homes sold in Timmins in 2001 was $97,422.
2002 has brought some debilitating blows to the economy, although the presidents of real estate boards around the North concur that the tragic events of Sept. 11. had little, if any, impact on the housing market. In fact, in most cases real estate has increased from previous years.
