Outlook brighter for Moncton after a mixed 2014

Following a mixed 2014, market conditions in Moncton are shaping up to favour buyers in 2015, particular in standard two-storey homes, according to the latest Royal LePage House Price Survey and Market Survey Forecast.Across the country, average home prices showed modest to healthy year-over-year gains in most markets in the fourth quarter of 2014. During the quarter, the average price of a home in Canada increased between 4.5 per cent and 6.7 per cent year-over-year. Nationally, the average price of detached bungalows rose 6.7 per cent $406,218, while standard two-storey homes increased 6.0 per cent to $443,379, and standard condominiums saw a 4.5 per cent increase to $257,624. Against the backdrop of a decidedly mixed macroeconomic environment at home and abroad, Royal LePage expects home prices to increase moderately in 2015, forecasting a 2.9 per cent national increase for the year ahead.For the Moncton market, specifically, standard two-storey average home prices ended the year jumping 7.5 per cent year-over-year to $151,622. At the same time, detached bungalows declined by 2.8 per cent versus the prior year to $150,796."This is definitely a great time to be a buyer, with new listings increasing and plenty of inventory to choose from," says Carla Bouchard, manager, Royal LePage Atlantic.Bouchard suggests that buyers are taking advantage of the low interest rate environment to trade-up to larger two-storey homes from bungalows, particularly with the increased number of listings to choose from. This increased demand for two-storey homes helps explain the surge in average prices seen during the quarter.Looking ahead to 2015, Bouchard forecasts that prices will remain relatively flat but activity will perk up as a result of increasing consumer confidence. "We expect a stronger market than we have seen in the last couple of years," says Bouchard. "While some markets have continued to defy gravity, notably the economically robust, supply constrained cities of Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto, by and large, house prices across the country are now strolling versus bounding forward," Phil Soper, president and chief executive of Royal LePage, told New Home & Condo Guide. "We believe this moderating trend will characterize the 2015 market, and that in normal course, even our hottest markets will see eroding affordability ease overheated demand, bringing balance and more rational price increases."The recent freefall in the value of oil is impacting the national and some provincial economies, he adds, and will act as a drag in some regions of the country."Specifically, the natural slowing of home price appreciation should be accelerated in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland, and delayed in Central Canada – particularly in Ontario."And what should homeowners and prospective buyers make of recent statements by Deutsche Bank, and even the Bank of Canada, that Canada's house prices are seriously inflated?"Will prices collapse, as a few foreign investment banks have prophesized? That seems highly unlikely in a future characterized by low interest rates and a healthy economy, which is what we see," says Soper. 

Average House Price % Change
Market	Province	2014/15 % Change	2015 Forecast	2014	2013
Halifax	NS	0.5%	277,000	275,500	274,880
Montreal	QC	0.6%	331,000	329,000	320,490
Ottawa	ON	1.8%	370,000	363,600	358,876
Toronto	ON	4.5%	592,000	566,500	524,089
Winnipeg	MB	0.4%	275,000	274,000	268,382
Regina	SK	-1.3%	311,000	315,000	312,355
Calgary	AB	2.4%	472,000	461,000	437,036
Edmonton	AB	2.5%	371,000	362,000	344,977
Vancouver	BC	2.8%	835,000	812,000	767,765
National		2.9%	419,318	407,500	382,466