New Condo Development Coming to the North End of Halifax

Gottingen Street is undergoing changes at a very rapid rate.  From our office location, there are two brand new developments in the works almost directly on either side.  We know this for a fact, because we've been dealing with dynamite going off on a regular basis as they blast for a parkade.  It is bone shaking, nerve rattling stuff!

The more attractive development in our opinion, comes in the form on Navy Lane condos.  This developer has clearly made an effort to blend in the the surroundings with a beautiful brick facade that offers a charasmatic nod to years gone by.  Last year, as the city was doing some road work, we caught a glimpse of the old cobblestones and steel tram rails,…

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Government provides update to foreign buyer ban. 

We were speaking with Steven Lewis from The Mortgage Centre this morning and he informed us the government is amending it's foreign buyer policy.  Now, if you have a valid work permit in place which has more than 183 days remaining, you are eligible to purchase a home in Canada.  We look into some of the other changes to the law below:

Purchasing for the Purpose of Re-Development

Non-Canadians looking to purchase a residential unit with the intent of redevelopment can now do so.  The redevelopment cannot be a renovations, but rather a project which substantially changes the use of the building. I.e from a duplex to an apartment building. 

Vacant Land Exempt

A Non-Canadian is now permitted to…

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The Coldwell Banker Maritime Realty Selling System

With Spring just around the corner, many people are considering preparations for selling their home in the coming months.  This year, we’ve completely revamped our Selling System for the benefit of our clients.  We had several meetings as a team to brainstorm every possible pain-point a Seller might face and then designed a system to alleviate as much frustration as possible.

I’ve already told you about Coldwell Banker Maritime Realty Concierge – our unique service that can help you locate the various services you might need when getting your home ready for sale.  We also take care of all the staging requirements and provide you with a complimentary cleaning service before you hit the market.

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Monthly Market Snapshot | January 2023

January in 2023 represented the slowest month for sales since at least 2009, which is when our stats tool started recording data.  That sounds scary, but everyone needs to remember we still have a pretty significant inventory shortage. 

There are only 523 homes for sale in all of HRM - Single Family and Condos. That means we only have 1.2 months of supply (Strong Sellers Market). This is at a time when rental rates have increased nearly 10% year over year. 
Despite fewer sales and higher interest rates, the average price of a home has remained largely unchanged since September. This is due to a lack of inventory and sky high rental rates.
There's no question the market has slowed down and that's why you…

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HRM Real Estate Year in Review | Fear and Volatility

The real estate market in 2022 was volatile. A cataclysmically low number of homes for sale in January caused real estate values to skyrocket.  It was almost impossible to determine what a house would sell for. A house may have sold a week or two ago, but then a similar house in the same area a week or two later may have fetched an additional 40-50K. You were competing against 15-20 other people and bids were inflated to ridiculous levels. In many cases, offers were also being submitted without conditions to protect the buyer.  It was a nightmare and one I am glad to say is over.

During the insanity, the bank of Canada decided to get involved to calm things down (while the media simultaneously…

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Happy New Year!

Have you set any New Year's Resolutions for 2023? It can be difficult to stick to one thing for the entire year, but setting goals for yourself and checking in on them is a great way to motivate yourself to achieve something new. Maybe this year instead of one resolution for the entire year, you can start smaller. Set one goal for the month of January and then check in on how it went and build on that goal in February. Or start even smaller with working on one small habit at a time.
Our team is putting this into practice this week by sitting down with our broker, Chris Perkins to talk about our goals for the year. Looking back on 2022, we're so proud of all of the relationships we built with our team, other professionals, local…

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Leveraging Your Equity

Even with the recent slow down in the market, property values are still significantly higher than they were last year.  Many homeowners have no idea how much equity they have in their home and similarly, are not sure what opportunities that equity provides.  I often hear people say how they could never afford to buy a new home because they are too expensive now.  However, most people I speak to do not fully understand their borrowing potential when leveraging their equity. 

For example, I had a client who purchased their semi-detached home many years ago for $170,000. We recently sold their home for $340,000, which meant they had some $200,000 in equity to play with.  Instead of rolling that entire amount into a new mortgage,…

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The Art of Negotiation

For the past two years, the value we’ve brought to our clients has been in the form of winning competing offers when buying a home, or leveraging multiple offers when selling. Now that the market has taken an abrupt turn, it is important that your Realtor changes their tactics to ensure your success when making a move. 

When selling, your Realtor now needs to do a lot more work to obtain feedback from buyer agents while encouraging them to submit an offer.  Obtaining an offer is half the battle, the other half is negotiating favourable terms.  It’s unlikely you’ll like everything about an offer when it is submitted, but it is always advisable to work with the buyer to reach an agreement where everyone is happy.

Buyers today…

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A NORMAL PERSPECTIVE

As summer is in full swing, a cooler real estate market still represents a hot one. It is easy to lose sight of perspective when it comes to Halifax real estate.  For years, it ticked slowly upwards without absurd swings in either direction.  The last two years dominated the media and in turn, dominated conversations across the province.  It is important to understand the statistics that form the foundation of our current housing market.

The number of sales in June 2022 was only beaten once in the past twelve months - in May of 2022.  Sales remain strong even though inventory is on the rise.  However, we still only have 1.4 months of supply.  This means that if nothing else were listed, it would only take a month and a half for…

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How will the Non-Resident Tax Affect Homeownership Costs in Nova Scotia?

Last week, the Provincial Government released a budget that included newly created Deed Transfer Taxes for Non-residents and increased Property Taxes for Non-residents. Since this was announced, many people have had questions of how this will affect them as well as the real estate market in Nova Scotia. See below for more information quoted from the Province of Nova Scotia website:

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Provincial Deed Transfer Tax for Non-residents

The Provincial Deed Transfer Tax (PDTT) will be effective for all purchase and sale agreements and other specific transfers starting 1 April 2022.

The Provincial Deed Transfer Tax will apply to all residential properties or portion of…

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