The figures were released on March 2, comparing Nov 2009 to Jan 2010 to the same period one year ago. It shows an increase in sales of 27.5 per cent for the province and a large growth of 43.5 per cent for the South Shore. In real numbers, it translates to 155 sales for the current period, compared to 108 from last year.
Most of the province saw at least some growth; the only areas showing a decrease in sales were Cape Breton and Yarmouth.
For all of 2009, Queens recorded a 38.8 per cent drop in sales from 2008, with an average home staying on the market for 179 days. The average price increased though by 4.4 per cent.
Anne Thompson from Anne Thompson Reality says things have picked up in Queens Co., especially since the beginning of 2010. Thompson says there have been more calls from people looking for real estate, and sees it as a positive sign.
She says 2009 was a down year for them, especially with the local economy.
“With Bowater’s shut downs and the uncertainty, (residential) buying just died.”
However she sees positive signs both in her business and in the news, which reflects the trend of things in Canada turning around.
Thompson’s business is also seeing more Canadians, from Ontario and out west looking for real estate.
Mary MacDonald from Walt MacDonald Real Estate is also seeing the positive trends, and more Canadians from out west buying property as well.
She says every 10 years they see a downturn, and then next year it bounces back
“Real Estate is cyclical, but (2009) was a lot worse.”
What has her and her husband concerned is the ongoing saga with the CAT ferry. Earlier this year, the provincial government said it would no longer subsidize the CAT ferry from Yarmouth to Maine. This led to the announcement by Bay Ferries that they were shutting down service.
“The real estate industry on the South Shore, is alive and well and growing.” - Doug White, Exit Realty Inter Lake
MacDonald says they have a large American clientele, and already American’s with summer properties in Queens are enquiring about selling. With the ongoing debate over the Digby Ferry as well, that has many in the real estate industry nervous.
Walt MacDonald is on Nova Scotia Association of Realtors, and is part of the growing number of people opposing the ferry link cut.
Doug White of Exit Realty Interlake in Liverpool is pleased with how his business has done, and for him the market in Queens has really been a sellers market this past year.
“It’s never been a better time to buy real estate,” he says. “The real estate industry on the South Shore, is alive and well and growing.”
White says they’ve had a lot of people looking to buy, but not enough sellers to meet the demand. While the number of closing sales is down from 2008, it is because of the lack of sellers.
White adds Nova Scotia wasn’t hit as hard as US and other areas in Canada, because we don’t get big spikes in real estate, and so we don’t get big dips either.
“I’m optimistic 2010 will be better than 2009,” he adds.
White says though the various levels of government need to help make this possible, to make the area appealing for people to move to. Part of that appeal is having the ferry link to the United States.
He doesn’t have many Americans clients buying and selling property, but sees cutting of the ferry as a “stupid, uninformed decision.” While he doesn’t think we need the CAT, Nova Scotia needs a ferry of some sort to connect to New England.
nmoase@theadvance.ca
