While the real estate market seems promising in the rest of Canada, there is one realtor who thinks that the housing market in Nova Scotia may be quite the opposite. According to CBC News, the Dartmouth realtor predicts there will be a slowdown in 2016 for Nova Scotia's housing market that will extend through the next two years.
"We're one of the few markets in Canada that has seen a significant slowdown," Re/Max realtor Al Demings has reportedly told CBC. He also noted that prices markets show very little movement but the numbers are too small to counterbalance slowdown in the Halifax area. And there are many factors that are causing this.
First, according to Demings, the area is lacking first-time home buyer activity, which normally promotes movement in the market. The second factor is due to the change in lending parameters which makes obtaining a mortgage, especially for the first-timers such a great challenge. The slowdown in military transfers and the drop in oil prices are also considered factors. And lastly, Demings added the persistence of low interest rates as factors to a stagnant Nova Scotia market. With this Demings said, ""When the market is stable and cheap it's not an incentive. When the rates start to go up people think, 'I'd better buy now.'"
Furthermore, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has also foreseen that the "resale market will remain weak" in Halifax with a drop in sales since the year 2014. According to its reported outlook for the housing market in Halifax, more people, especially those in the aging population, will choose to sell homes instead of buying homes. According to the CMHC, the listings in 2015 have increased by somewhere between five to eight percent compared to the previous years. CMHC then believes that the secondary market would see "marginal gains" over the next two years.