262kph

Hi Everyone,

With the house prices in the UK falling monthly i was wondering what the situation is with houses in Canada, Nova Scotia and Halifax especially. Are they falling, rising staying the same? I know that you get a lot more for your money anyway but was just wondering

val50

Where we are in Bedford, we have seen the price of our house increase by a third in the last 2 years since we bought it. They do not seem to sit on the market long and there doesn't seem to be any sign of them falling in price. Sales of housing is quite a seasonal thing here it seems, with the greatest interest between April-September. Over winter prices are more negotiable as people don't want to leave the houses empty when it's cold.
In the southend of Halifax house prices are crazy, you certainly don't get more for your money, and very little land. It is only when you move out of the HRM area that you can get really good bargains.

Homegrown

The housing market remains firm in the Halifax area. Prices have risen about 7% annually over the past several years. There has been no crazy run up
in prices as there is no boom economy just steady managable growth.

Prices range from just under $200,000 for well built 60's era bungalows
on the Dartmouth side to over $1,000,000 for homes on the south end
of the penninsula. As val50 stated this area is considered over priced.
It's where all the doctors, lawyers, and Indain Chiefs live. There are many inner ring suburbs like Fall River and Bedford where $300,000 will buy a
fine home.

Ironically condos are priced higher than houses in this area. Something about
1600 sf in a newer concrete building is running at over $350,000. Condo living here is a lifestyle choice, not a necessity.

It's my personnal view that high fuel costs will depress prices in far flung
commutor suburbs and raise prices in areas that are closer to Halifax.

Check out mls.ca

Paul Wildy

It doesnt seem to be something that gets monitored quite as closely as in the UK - at least there isnt a major news item each month that tells you what the % change was in the previous month - so its harder to have a really accurate feel for the market.

http://www.crea.ca/public/news_stats/statistics.htm shows some data for Halifax as a whole - an increase of about 7% between May 07 and May 08.

Also, http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/inpr/homain/index.cfm has a variety of stats and analysis.

There seems to be quite a difference between different areas within greater Halifax - I saw some stats a while back that said areas of Eastern Shore/Porters Lake had increase 29%, Fall River about 20% etc. I cant seem to put my finger on the information at the moment though.

I would certainly say they are still going up at a steady pace.

262kph

Thanks for all this information. So basically the further out of Halifax you go the cheaper it becomes? We were looking at Fall River as it mostly seems like nice newish houses, but is there anywhere else that anyone can recommend as a nice area to live that is only around 30 - 45 mins from Halifax where property isnt too expensive, upto the $300,000 mark?

Paul Wildy

Fall River certainly isnt one of the cheaper areas these days but other similar(ish) areas I would recommend (especially if you want newish and to be in a subdivision (planned development) would be Hammonds Plains, Bedford, Porters Lake, Tantallon, Head of St Margarets Bay.

You'd probably get most for your money in Porters Lake or Hammonds Plains. Wellington (a little further along fron Fall River) is also starting to get developed and might be worth a look.

Nicola N-A

We're only 20 mins from Halifax and your money does tend to got a lot futher over here on the 'dark side'!

There are new builds around this area too, so wouldn't discount around here.

Canada Dreams

we are planning onmoving to the kentville area or within 20 minutes of so, so hoping that houses are a bit cheaper up there

Liana

The southend is one of the most sensible areas to live in if there are teenagers in the family- very good schools/universities/ theatre/concert hall/ great stores/ beautiful parks and beach and all within walking distance so no need to travel hours and no need to have a stack of cars for the kids to drive. But far enough if people have young children and perhaps work in Burnside, then live in Bedford /Fall River/ Dartmouth but the Peninsula is a good area ecologically these days.
The house prices are not crazy compared to the other major cities in Canada nor the major towns/areas in the UK.

Winston Green

We have just returned from a recce and house viewing trip of NS and you would have no problem finding houses in any of these areas for $300000. We settled on a house in Porters Lake which is easily under 30 mins from Halifax. Fall river was the most expensive of the areas but it really depends on what type of house you are after. We set ourselves a $300000 limit and viewed everything from lakeside split-levels to rural hobby farms. You are only limited by availability of schools and work prospects.

destinationnovascotia

Porters Lake is lovely. We are moving to a house in Musquodoboit Harbour just a bit further along the Eastern Shore.

When are you thinking of moving out?

Paul Wildy

Hi DNS

are you still coming over end of July? how is house sale in UK going?

destinationnovascotia

HI,

How are you? Working hard as usual I expect.

Things got put back a week as the WP's took so long. We now have flights booked for August 6th so not long now.

It's my last night at work tonight and the packers are coming a week on Monday so next week it blitz week here to get rid of everything that we are not shipping.

We have a couple of offers on our house, one is serious. I am fairly confident that after a bit of haggling we will have a deal. If they won't budge then we have decided to accept but there is no harm in asking for more as long as we don't alienate them.

We are really desperate to come now. Off doing those "last time" things, you know, last kids sports day, last end of term service, last night out with friends etc. We have a leaving party tomorrow so we are hoping for some nice weather to BBQ.

We are so looking forward to arriving. Save some of that sunshine I've been hearing about won't you. Maybe I will be seeing you sometime soon, after all, summer is the time for recce's so there is bound to be a meet up or two.

Keep in touch.

Lynn

Paradisefound

[QUOTE=262kph;6573514]Thanks for all this information. So basically the further out of Halifax you go the cheaper it becomes?
I don't think so. The South Shore and places like Chester can be expensive and also where I live on the North Shore.
The closer you are to the ocean in any area the more you pay. Prices have been rising steadily in NS in the 3 years we have been here and I believe that trend will continue. NS is far behind other parts of Canada so lots of room for movement. Many Canadians are coming here in search of cheaper properties. One of our properties is has nearly tripples in value. Whereas one we had left in the UK took 2 yrs to sell and that was for the 2yr old price over a year ago.

262kph

[QUOTE=Paradisefound;6583625] Thanks. I just wish my house would sell here. All i need is one of the four people who are interested to sell theirs, and we will be off.
It is so frustrating sitting here waiting, but we cant afford to come until it sells, so.......