Since the boiling hot markets take it down to a more sustainable simmer, real estate experts are pouring efforts into to determining what is real and what is bubble-esque by closely examining the most recent crop of data. The present numbers highlight one thing: the Bancroft real estate market continues to be one of the most in-demand markets in both the province of Ontario and the broader nation. So, is it time to strike while the iron is hot and move to Bancroft? If you do, you are in store for a treat: beautiful scenery, affordable properties, and a warm, welcoming community.
Are sales activity and price spikes the new norm in Bancroft? Or like the rest of Canada, will trends begin to ease over the months ahead? Let’s find out.
In the months following the coronavirus pandemic, many Canadian households hopped on the exodus train from the major urban centres to small towns and rural communities. Some even fled to cottage country over the last 16 months. This migration has helped fuel one of the hottest real estate markets in the world, driving up the cost of detached, semi-detached, townhomes and condominiums in every virtually every real estate market across the Great White North.
As a result, the Canadian real estate market is enduring an affordability crisis, buoyed by historically low interest rates, evolving consumer trends, and strengthening fundamentals. Industry experts contend that the nation’s housing market is beginning to cool down, allowing the sector to stabilize and giving buyers and sellers a chance to catch their breath.
Activity Remains Hot in the Bancroft Real Estate Market
According to the latest data from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), Bancroft residential sales tumbled 6.3 per cent to 59 units in June. Despite the drop, this still represented the fourth-best month of June on record. Year-to-date, home sales climbed 68.2 per cent year-over-year for a record total of 296 units.
On a long-term basis, residential transactions were 17.5 per cent above the five-year average and 22.9 per cent above the decade average for the month of June.
Bancroft real estate prices also soared heading into summer 2021. The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI), which is considered among industry experts as more accurate than average or median price measurements, advanced 64.2 per cent to $461,900 for a single-family home. That said, the average price of homes in the Bancroft housing market soared at an annualized rate of 72 per cent to an all-time high of $594,071. In the first six months of 2021, prices spiked by 62.8 per cent to $547,597.
By now, it is common knowledge that the substantial gains in sales activity and prices are due to the fundamental factors of low supply and strong demand.
The number of new listings jumped 13.3 per cent, while active residential listings dropped by 4.3 per cent. New listings were 7% below the five-year average, and active listings were an astounding 39.9 per cent below the same five-year average. Months of inventory, which monitors the number of months it would take to sell present housing stocks at the current rate of sales activity, clocked in at 1.5 at the end of June. This was flat from the same time a year ago, but it was below the long-run average of 6.1 months for June.
Is Bancroft Real Estate a Good Buy?
A year ago, what if you were told that Bancroft, Ontario would be considered the best place to purchase a home in the vast and ultra-expensive Canadian real estate market? Your response would have likely been: “Where”? The unprecedented real estate trends over the past year have certainly put small, more remote communities on the map as homebuyers set their sights far beyond the urban centres.
According to HSBC, Bancroft is the best town to acquire real estate. In addition to property values that surged 78 per cent over the last three years to an average of $576,000, the analysts pointed to proximity to Algonquin Park, an abundance of retail, stellar schools and hospitals, and a booming economy. Plus, Bancroft is sandwiched between Toronto and Ottawa, requiring roughly three hours of travel to either city.
The municipalities rounding out the top 5 home-buying locations were located in Ontario: Woodstock-Ingersoll, London-St. Thomas, Tillsonburg, and Huron-Perth. Toronto, Oakville-Milton, and Vancouver were at the bottom of the list.
That said, what do these top-rated jurisdictions have in common? They are all rural, representing the trend of major urban centre dwellers trading the concrete jungle for green space, larger homes, open-air, and most importantly, affordability. Based on the figures reported for the Bancroft housing market, this is one trend that hasn’t yet shown signs of dampening.
Sources
