Sellers Take Note – Buyers Beware! The St. John’s Real Estate Market is on a Roll.

According to yesterday’s edition of the Globe and Mail people in this province are on a home buying binge, and they have the statistics to prove it. In November home sales were up a whopping 72% over November last year. In St. John’s home sales were up 68% from October to November this year, and it shows. The inventory is down and agents are desperately seeking suitable homes for their buyers.

Oil drives the St. John’s real estate market. Create a stable oil presence in the province, and we’re thrilled to be buying and building homes. Put that stability in jeopardy, as Danny Williams (our feisty, feisty premier) did last year in his stand off with the oil companies over the development of the Ben Nevis-Hebron oil basin, and we tend to hunker down and stay put.

In August Danny and the oil companies came to an agreement and we’ve been on a real estate roll ever since. We’re not quite back to the constant, multiple offers and homes selling above asking price of  2004-05, but, at the rate we’re going, that market condition might not be too far off.

This new market trend is not good news for buyers. It looks like their ability to take their time and browse the St. John's real estate market may have been short lived, although there’s still a breathing space before we move to the red hot market we experienced a few years back. If you’re thinking about buying sometime in the next year you’d be smart to:
• Start watching the inventory (it’s easy with my Homes by Email Service)
• Get pre approved for a mortgage
• Don’t make any large purchases (like that new 4 x 4 truck you’ve been dreaming about) unless you’re absolutely sure it won’t destroy you’re debt service ratio.

I’m always happy to answer your St. John’s real estate questions.  Feel free to drop me an email at larry@larryhann.com or call me 728-1169, toll free 866-728-1169.
 
Larry Hann
Coldwell Banker Hanlon

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