Top 3 Findings from the Engel & Völkers Mid-Year 2021 Market Report

Engel & Völkers has released their Canadian mid-year real estate market report, a residential property analysis highlighting notable trends, changing buyer and seller preferences, economic factors, and more. We have put together our top three takeaways from the report that we believe are indicative as to what we can expect from the second half of the year.

1. Metros see a wave of market normalization. Since about mid-April, the real estate market has begun to cool down, with fewer offers being submitted on properties. This has indicated a return to normal within the real estate market after an unusual 2020. As housing inventory rises, buyers are seeing less competition and a lot more opportunities.

2. Luxury condominium sales bounce back in urban areas. Over the last year, more and more Canadians have been looking for an increase in space, which caused the demand for condos to diminish. However, since the promising vaccine rollout and the end of lockdowns, condo sales have returned at a steady climb. It is predicted that condo sales will only continue to increase over time and as restrictions ease throughout the country.

3. Buyers are investing in multiple properties. In March of 2020, the Bank of Canada announced a 0.25 percent interest rate to ease the impact of the pandemic. Since then, this has allowed many to purchase multiple properties while simultaneously increasing the price of homes. There has been a significant increase in people moving from metropolitan areas to more rural areas, which has also increased the number of people who own more than one property: one in the city and one in the suburbs or more rural areas.