There are currently more than 2,100 real estate listings in the Halifax Regional Municipality – in Sept. 2021, there were just 500. “It definitely feels like the buyers have more opportunity for patience, a little bit more negotiating power right now,” says Matthew Honsberger, president of Royal Lepage Atlantic. That patience along with a growing inventory month-by-month means the market has reached balance. “We’re seeing a comparable number of listings come on the market to what we’ve seen traditionally at this time of year, but there are just less sales happening, so that means the inventory is going to grow,” Honsberger says. Part of the reason for fewer sales is the asking price. “I have my fourth listing this year expiring and I never had one expired before,” says Mylene Fraser, who’s been a real estate agent for nine years. Some sellers are listing their homes based on pandemic prices and not what today’s market suggests. “What I’ve been doing this year is talking to sellers and saying, ‘I will list it at your price. We will know within three weeks if it’s overpriced,’” Fraser says. Honsberger says overpriced homes just aren’t selling. “If you priced it at the right price and it sells within that first 30 days, you should expect to get pretty close to 100 per cent of the property’s list price,” says Honsberger. “By the time you get to 60-plus days, you’re at about 92 to 93 per cent of where you originally priced that property if you went on too high.” Still, those overpriced properties are less than what buyers are seeing in other parts of the country. “When you’re looking at it on a national scale compared to Toronto or Vancouver or even price run ups in Calgary, you’re still looking at a much more affordable housing stock than you are in those other places,” says CMI Financial CEO Bryan Jaskolka. Still, locally, the more balanced market means a more balanced playing field those looking to sell their home and those looking to move in. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
