Battlefords housing market cools in November (File photo/battlefordsNOW staff)

By Keaton Brown

Buyer's Market

Battlefords housing market cools with the weather

Dec 6, 2019 | 2:00 PM

The real estate market in the Battlefords has cooled off with the weather this winter season.

The Battlefords saw 28 properties sell in the month of November. The average selling price for a property was $199,923 which is a six per cent increase over that same period last year.

These numbers are significantly lower than earlier in the year when 39 homes were sold in the month of May.

Wally Lorenz from Re-max said it is not unusual to have the market slow down this time of year.

“We get into this time of year, in November, December, January and February we always have a slow up. It is just that time of year; people don’t like moving through the winter season. Plus, we are getting into the Christmas season and that affects it as well,” he said.

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Lorenz said they have had an otherwise good year, and even saw a nice uptick in business in the last quarter of this year.

“We started to pick up here after the summer months we got into August and even in the end of July things turned around,” he said. “We have had a little bit, I think it is a six percent increase and things have turned a little bit in terms of units selling.”

Even though units are selling, Lorenz said they are seeing decrease in dollar value.

“The dollar value is definitely down from last year. We are probably down ten percent in dollar value. Once the market adjusts itself to value there are still sales happening,” he said.

Lorenz said the Battlefords is a buyer’s market right now, with sellers having to adjust their expectations to get a deal done.

“There are lots to choose from and anybody that is selling has to take a bit of a hit. Nothing sells at list, you are well below your list like 10 or 20 percent before a deal goes through,” he said.

Lorenz expects the month of December to be similar to what was seen in November. He expects the number of sales to go down but does not think that will have a dramatic affect on the price of houses in the Battlefords.

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Keaton.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow