New data from Royal LePage shows fewer homes are being listed in the Maritimes and sales are soft. “Buyer confidence remains somewhat tentative, with many prospective purchasers continuing to take a wait-and-see approach amid broader economic uncertainty,” says Rudy Chong, owner and manager of Royal LePage Prince Edward Realty in a news release. Matthew Honsberger, president of Royal LePage Atlantic tells CTV News he’s noticed a slowdown in the number of people buying and selling. “But surprisingly, prices held up quite well,” he adds. Fewer buyers and sellers have kept inventory levels steady, but for the rest of the year projections are showing growth. “We revised ourselves upwards a little bit to between, sort of, two and four per cent in terms of what our expectation around average price increase over the course of year is,” says Honsberger. For realtors on the ground, the shift has been building for months. “The busiest time is, kind of, between now and July. In July, it slows down a little bit when it’s the dog days of summer. But we’ll be pretty steady from now until then,” says Chandler Haliburton, a Bedford N.S., realtor. Sticking with the trends of previous years, first-time buyers are leading the charge, including some newcomers from other provinces. “This segment continues to provide a steady source of activity,” Chong says in the news release. But many buyers are feeling the pressure, especially when it comes to affordability. “The challenge is more so with coming up with the down payment. A lot of young people are tight on cash,” says Haliburton. “So, coming up with the down payment is the biggest difficulty.” Current events in Canada and overseas are all playing a role, from interest rates to international conflicts. “Everything from price, our trade issues that we’re having with the U.S., to the conflict in the Middle East. All of that uncertainty causes people to make different decisions with respect to large purchases,” says Honsberger. But not all cities and communities are seeing the same conditions. Some neighbourhoods in Bedford or Halifax are still seeing homes move quickly off the market, which experts say will likely continue to be the case in the months ahead.
