Halifax, NS

Predictions for the Halifax Real Estate Market 2009

The New Year is upon us and who knows what is in store for 2009. 2008 was a tough year on everybody. With all the doom and gloom in the financial industry it is safe to assume that in 2009 we may be in for a rough ride here in Canada. Hot Real Estate markets like Calgary, Vancouver, and Fort Mac Murray have seen a drastic declines in the number of sales and prices have tumbled.

What is in store for us in the Halifax Real Estate market? In my professional opinion I think Halifax is positioned nicely to not feel the sting of this so called recession we are in. Last year we saw a 6.5% increase in average price and this year TD financial fore casted another rise in price but only by 2%. This is a modest increase but it is still an increase unlike other markets in Canada or the United States where the average price has gone down in some places by more than 50%.

I see the first half of 2009 being a buyer's market, right now we are seeing record volumes of inventory and days on market has increased. Combine those two and there are deals to be had. Interest rates are getting close to an all time low which will help more buyers get into their next home.

If you are looking to buy a home this year make sure you get a Realtor to represent you in the transaction, it could be worth thousands of dollars in your pocket. A strong agent who understands this market is going to get you a better bang for your buck.

In the next few months look for new changes to my blog. In the meantime if you are looking to buy or sell Real Estate in Halifax, Dartmouth and surrounding areas you can email me at andrewperkins@exitmetro.ca.

Andrew Perkins

Your Halifax Real Estate Expert

HRMbyDesign will increase vibrancy and beauty of downtown Halifax

HRMbyDesign has engaged the public in a democratic, community-led process to determine the vision for our downtown and to establish new policy that will make the vision a reality. Over the past two years the citizen-led Urban Design Task Force has consulted, engaged and communicated with thousands of members of the public to ensure that the resulting plan creates a vibrant, exciting and beautiful downtown for residents and visitors. It is a plan that balances our rich past with a vibrant and beautiful future. Without this plan, we will continue to see parking lots on our waterfront, vacant and underused properties throughout the downtown, crumbling heritage resources in need of support through legislation and incentives for restoration, and an ongoing out-migration of young, highly skilled workers looking for a dynamic and progressive place to live and work.

This Plan will neither encourage nor allow 30 high-rises in the central business district, nor will it encourage the demolition of heritage resources. On the contrary, HRMbyDesign will provide strengthened heritage protections and directs any future tall buildings to those areas where tall buildings already exist, thereby preserving the heritage heart of the downtown. Finally, HRMbyDesign is creating new planning policy and has no ability to influence applications being processed under current policy.

The establishment of the Barrington Street Heritage Conservation District (HCD), HRM's first ever HCD, will occur with the adoption of the Downtown Plan. It will help protect and conserve this continuous, well-defined heritage area through improved demolition and rehabilitation guidelines, and a tax incentive and grants program designed to stimulate the revitalization of this historic streetscape.

Improved demolition control is also being sought through provincial legislative amendments to help protect the stand-alone heritage buildings not located in the Barrington Street HCD, and through the identification of two other future heritage conservation districts - Historic Properties and Barrington Street south. Heritage design guidelines in the new Design Manual will guide appropriate development and design of buildings integrated with, and next to existing heritage buildings both inside and outside of HCD's.

Another protection for heritage exists within the proposed development approvals process and proposed downtown land use by-law. Under the existing development agreement process, new development projects can be negotiated to heights up to the ceiling of the Citadel and Ramparts View Planes. We have seen this occur countless times over the years, as evidenced by the many tall buildings in our central business district. In many cases, HRMbyDesign is actually reducing heights below those attainable under current policy, to a pre-established maximum that has been agreed upon by the public throughout this process. These heights have been widely consulted and are informed by the local neighbourhoods, adjacency to heritage conservation districts or other tall buildings, view planes, access to public open spaces such as the waterfront boardwalk, and many other factors. Further, the new bonus zoning agreement process will provide protection 2 for heritage through onsite restoration or improvements as a public benefit to be provided by the developer.

Excerpted from www.halifax.ca website

I am an avid supporter of this plan. Halifax needs to move with the times and create an exciting downtown core. I was driving in the downtown area today and there are too many buildings not being occupied. The downtown core needs to be the heart of the city. I hope this plan gets final approval and moves forward. I will keep you posted as things change.

If you are interested in buying or selling real estate in Halifax, Dartmouth and surrounding areas you can email me at andrewperkins@exitmetro.ca.

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Andrew Perkins

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Atlantic Canada Still Affordable/New housing starts down

With all the trouble surrounding the economy these days it is very nice to see a positive story for once. After reading this article, the next article I read was how housing starts are down over last year. It is hard sometimes to decipher what to think. As I have said before Halifax prices have had only modest increases over the last 10 years not like some of the other Canadian markets. I look for Halifax to continue this trend next year although probably not at the same pace. Check out the articles below.

Atlantic market Canada's newest housing hotspot: RBC
EDITED BY STAFF, TRANSCONTINENTAL MEDIA
The Nova Scotia Business Journal

TORONTO - According to the latest housing report by RBC Economics, rapid price increases in the past two years have eroded Atlantic Canada's affordability conditions, although some improvement is on the way in
2009.

"Forget the West. The new housing hotspots are in Atlantic Canada," said Robert Hogue, senior economist at RBC. "St. John's housing market is firing on all cylinders, trailing only Regina in terms of year-over-year price increases. Saint John and Halifax are also showing solid price momentum, creating favourable conditions for sellers."

The RBC Housing Affordability measure for Atlantic Canada, which captures the proportion of pre-tax household income needed to service the costs of owning a home, improved slightly across all four classes in the third quarter of 2008 as the benchmark detached bungalow moved to 35.4 per cent, the standard townhouse to 30.3 per cent, the standard condo to 27.6 per cent and the standard two-storey home to 41.2 per cent.

The report noted that despite recent meaningful price gains across the region, housing affordability has not deteriorated excessively during the boom of the past two years. Affordability measures in Atlantic Canada currently stand only five to 13 per cent above long-run averages. Nonetheless, momentum in the region's market is expected to wane in 2009 as economic uncertainty takes the wind out of its sail.

RBC's Affordability measure for a detached bungalow for Canada's largest cities is as follows: Vancouver 74.8 per cent, Toronto 53.3 per cent, Calgary 47.3 per cent, Ottawa 43.3 per cent and Montreal 40.4 per cent.

The report also looked at mortgage carrying costs relative to incomes for a broader sampling of cities across the country, including St. John's, Saint John, and Halifax. For these cities, RBC has used a narrower measure of housing affordability that only takes mortgage payments relative to income into account.

The Housing Affordability measure, which RBC has compiled since 1985, is based on the costs of owning a detached bungalow, a reasonable property benchmark for the housing market. Alternative housing types are also presented including a standard two-storey home, a standard townhouse and a standard condo. The higher the reading, the more costly it is to afford a home. For example, an Affordability reading of 50 per cent means that homeownership costs, including mortgage payments, utilities and property taxes, take up 50 per cent of a typical household's monthly pre-tax income. - Daily

Total housing starts decline in Halifax
EDITED BY STAFF, TRANSCONTINENTAL MEDIA
The Nova Scotia Business Journal

HALIFAX - Residential construction continued to moderate in Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) last month as total starts declined 34 per cent compared to November 2007. According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's (CMHC) preliminary data released today for Halifax, there were 118 total housing starts last month, compared with 178 in November 2007.

Single-detached starts recorded a 22 per cent decrease to 97 starts in November compared to 125 in November 2007. Multiples moderated to 21 starts last month - all of which were semi-detached or row housing starts.

"Although single starts were up 12 per cent year-over-year through the first three quarters in HRM, they were on average 16 per cent lower in October and November," said Matthew Gilmore, senior market analyst with CMHC's Atlantic Business Centre. "Our recent forecast called for starts to moderate in the fourth quarter and into 2009. The reasons for the decrease include the current economic environment, reduced spillover demand from the existing homes market and rising prices for new construction."

In urban centres across Canada there were 12,780 total housing starts in November, 28 per cent fewer than the 17,816 starts in November 2007. There were 5,348 single-detached housing starts across Canada last month, 37 per cent less than the 8,490 single starts in November 2007. At 7,432 units, multiple housing starts represented a 20 per cent decrease from the 9,326 units started in November 2007. - Daily Business Buzz

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Andrew Perkins

Your HRM Real Estate Expert

Perhaps many of you already do this but I thought I'd share......when I was at a local restaurant recently, I enjoyed the good service and told the server so. I asked if I could give her my business card and she was pleased to accept it....in fact she asked for two! So... why not start giving two cards at a time! I explain to new acquaintenances that I would really appreciate their help in growing my business....so one card is their's to keep and one is to give away.

I mentioned this to my broker.....now he is doing it too!

Cheers!

I got a call today from an advertising rep... he is offering me a bundle [a phone book yellow pages ad in color+online site] for 'only' $177 per month, locked in for 12 months but no bill till April. He's got some good stats to back up his presentation but here's the conundrum.....I know I need advertising to kick-start my new career....but I'm seeing the money go in only one direction so far and I'm starting to feel a bit overwhelmed. [you remember that newbie feeling]

So my question is.....what's the best way to go in terms of advertising? I've put newsletters and business cards in the corner pizza place....I've sent out newsletters to my farm area and I've done some cold calling. I'm new to this city and my sphere of influence is small but I give out business cards every chance I get. I joined a Centre for Women in Business which will help me with my networking. I know it's still early but I don't want my advertising budget to be on overload!

I'd love to hear your opinions....

Thanks much!

Melva