A house is the largest single investment most of us will ever make and if you want to put a sold sign in front of a Winnipeg home these days, it’s going to cost you a lot more than it once did. “It’s gotten substantially less affordable,” said Re/Max realtor Ed Dale. “I’ve been doing this for 15 years and it’s probably tripled or quadrupled in price since I’ve been doing this.” According to the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board, the average price for a residential detached home in Winnipeg was roughly $275,000 in 2015. Ten years later, that price has spiked to $460,000. “So that’s about a 40 percent increase,” said Michael Froese, the president of the board. “For those, especially first-time buyers, saving up for that down payment, you’ve got to save now, you know, five per cent down of $450,000 as opposed to $275,000.” Then you have closing costs, the land transfer tax, legal fees and other expenses. So, how do you know if you can afford to buy a house? Daryl Harris from One Link Mortgage suggests before calling a real estate agent, you need to sit down with your banker. “That involves being pre-approved. Getting your income verified, knowing where the down payment is coming from, getting all that verified so that when you make that offer, you know you’re going to be able to move forward.” The amount of that offer will vary depending on the neighbourhood and the type of home you buy. “Compared to ten years ago, we’ve seen much more building of townhouses and single attached homes,” said Froese. “That presents more affordable options.” Options that can help people make the leap into the Winnipeg housing market.
