About 1,270 homes sold across the province in June, according to the New Brunswick Real Estate Association. That’s down 3.7 percent from June 2021, but still more than 28 percent above the decade average. Last month, 432 homes sold in the greater Moncton area, which includes Dieppe, Riverview and surrounding areas to the southeast. This is down 3.1 percent compared to the same month a year ago. In Toronto, the number of homes sold fell 41 percent, while in Vancouver, sales fell 35 percent compared to June 2021. “While the major markets are starting to show a bit of a slowdown, in the greater Moncton area we are still experiencing some significant population growth and it appears to be accelerating, if anything,” said Mike Power, president of Greater Moncton. Realtors, he said in an interview. House prices soared during the pandemic as the province broke population records and low interest rates allowed people to buy more expensive homes. It has led to concerns about pricing people out of the market as rental costs have also risen. The median home price in New Brunswick has risen sharply during the pandemic. (New Brunswick Real Estate Association/Submitted) Power said in a press release with the latest statistics that it’s reasonable to expect the Moncton market to change as the Bank of Canada continues to raise interest rates. He said they are closely monitoring the statistics for signs that the market is weakening, although in a press release he described it as still “full steam ahead for our local market”. “We’re starting to see what we think may be the beginning of an inflection point,” Power said in an interview. “Although, the stats don’t support that yet. The stats tend to track what actually happens on a daily basis. So it will be a while before we know if it’s a trend or not.” He said they are starting to see fewer people competing for each property. The reported cost of a single-family home in the Moncton area was $348,600 in June, up from $353,200 in May. This price is up 107 percent compared to five years ago. The benchmark is used in place of the average to reflect homes that are considered more typical than low- or high-cost properties. Looking at just the city of Moncton, that benchmark price for a single-family home was $363,700. In Dieppe, it was $440,700, while in Riverview it was $331,000. In June, the benchmark cost for a single-family home in the province was $299,900, up nearly 30 percent from a year earlier. Increases in home sales were reported in northern parts of New Brunswick, while decreases were reported in Saint John (-3%), Greater Moncton (-3.1%) and Fredericton (-10.8%) compared to June 2021.
