Halifax, NS

Halifax Real Estate Condo Update September 11/08

It looks like the downtown Halifax area can be expecting some exciting new condo projects coming on board in the near future. Their are two major ones. The first being The Trillium. This condo building is going on the corner of South Park and Brenton. A great location to say the least. There is not a great deal information available yet. Another one that has just passed council approval is The Alexander in the brewery market. This project looks very exciting. Stay tuned as more information becomes available.

A couple of other projects worthy to note are in the north end of Halifax. Hydrostone Place is a great looking condo building. This area is rapidly becoming one of the most popular in Halifax. Falkland St condos have broke ground and according to the sign there has been 30% sold. I think once this project gets closer to completion they will sell out very fast. Spice is also coming along, albeit quite slow. They need to finish this one soon as it is a eye sore right now. I am sure once it is done it will be very nice. Armoury Villa has also broken ground and is situated across from the Halifax Common.

If you are interested in receiving more info on these or any other condo projects in Halifax do not hesitate to call or email me anytime. I will be keeping a close eye on the Trillium and The Brewery market condos so check back for regular updates.

Andrew Perkins

Your Halifax Real Estate Expert

Canadian Real Estate home sales for July 2008

Today I will be looking at other provinces and how their Real Estate Markets are performing. I have created a table to show you the average prices in all provinces in Canada. This will give you an idea of what markets are hot and what markets are cold.

National Average 07 - $309,885

National Average 08 - $302,298

Based on MLS® Statistics

As you can see from these numbers, Atlantic Canada's average price continues to rise, none more so than Newfoundland. The average price there went up by 18.7%. Mainly due to the announcement of the Hebron Oil Deal. Here in Nova Scotia we saw a modest 5% increase. The surprising markets are out west which saw actual declines in average price. In Alberta we saw a 5.5% drop in average price. Price skyrocketed their way too fast and a correction needs to happen. Also in BC the average price fell slightly.

What does all this mean for the Halifax Real Estate market? Are market is still going strong. I am seeing a slight shift to a buyers market. Number of sales are down but the average price continues to rise. In the second quarter we saw a healthy 7.3% increase.

If you are looking to buy or sell Halifax Real Estate contact me anytime for a free market analysis.

Related Posts

- Bedford Hammonds Plains Market Report

- Nova Scotia Real Estate Market

Andrew Perkins

Your Halifax Real Estate Expert

First of all I'll start by saying thanks to everyone who has contributed to this wonderful site over the last year and 2 months. I joined in June of 2007, I simply wanted to see what was involved with this blogging thing that I had read about.

It has now been 14 months since I started my learning. I determined early on in the process that the industry was changing and evolving into something completely different than I was used to. - My blogging worked and soon my cheif source of leads came from the blog.

On November 16 - I suffered a stroke. It was high blood pressure. Took me completely by suprise. In the hospital for 8 days. Anyway - I have a complete recovery . I went from not being able to talk to perfectly normal speech. I had to learn the keyboard over again. Right brain thinking has made me see things with a different light. My thinking is somewhat clearer now than it used to be.

The new me has teamed up with an investor in my business and I've just purchased some professional camera gear. I'm going to build a website based on these photos. And I will gain a huge advantage over my competetors as far as listings go. Combined with 25 -30 Professional shots ,I will offer a staging consult at no cost to the customer with payment at closing.

Website will be officially announced in two weeks - Part 2

I feel I owe it all to active Rain.

Here are some sample picts. I hope you all enjoy!

Photo 1 - Granbury Place Condo -- Taken with 17- 85mm lens on my canon EOS 49d

Photo 2 -- Kitchen in finished unit. 10 -22 wide angle view

Photo 3 -- Views from 12th floor. - Bedford Basin - Fairview Cove Container Terminal

Halifax Real Estate Market Report Multi Unit Buildings(4 units or less) based on MLS® data.

So today I figured I would look at something a little different. I have many clients who have and are actively looking for multi unit buildings as another way to enhance cash flow. There are things you need to look for when thinking of purchasing a multi unit rental. Firstly you have to make sure that the building generates income, a lot of multi units on the market today just won't carry themselves and they are better served as an owner occupied so someone will help with the mortgage. I always advise my clients to look at the net income(rent minus heating, maintenance, and other expenses associated with the property). A general rule of thumb is if the net income is 10% of the purchase price it is definitely a building worth taking a closer look at. Secondly what a lot of my clients look for and I reccomend is electric heat and separate electrical meters. This way the heating and electricity of the units can be passed off onto the tenant. Obvisously there are many other factors to look at but these are the main ones in my mind.

So lets take a look at the numbers over the years.

From Aug 20,2006 - Aug 20,2008 for area 1-40 which encompass all of HRM for multi unit buildings, 4 units or less.

number of sales - 330

average sale price - $274,920

number of days on market - 72 days

From Aug 20,2004 - Aug 20,2006 for area 1-40 which encompass all of HRM for multi unit buildings, 4 units or less.

number of sales - 282

average sale price - $247,671

number of days on market - 66 days

Looking at these numbers we can see that the same trend continues throughout the Halifax Real Estate Market, average price continues to rise, an 11% increase. Number of sales are up 17% from the same period 2 years ago which goes against the trend in residential unit sales. Average days on market are up slightly.

What does all this mean? Well if you are in the market for a rental units it may now be the best time as I don't see the market going down anytime soon. Also the rental vacancy rate in Halifax is very low so there are a lot of prospective tenants out there. Rents continue to rise. If you would like more info on Rental units or what like a market analysis done specific to your area let me know.

Related Posts

- Halifax Condo Market Update

- Dartmouth Real Estate Update

Andrew Perkins

You're Halifax Real Estate Expert

The Halifax waterfront was buzzing today! With record heat

it was a carnival atmosphere all along the boardwalk!

The Clipper round the world race just finished its New York to Halifax leg and the boats are
In town for 4 days. Quite an impressive Site!

With 10 teams - Each displaying it's Stop-over port .

Team Nova Scotia under sail .

Hull & Humber - Recently clocked 29knots at one point during Leg!
Must have felt like a runaway 68' Freight Car!

Just one more World Class attraction on Halifax's Waterfront. Making it one more reason its why people
want to move here! - www.homesearchnovascotia.com