Looking to sell your home or upgrade to something bigger and better?
Then Portage la Prairie’s housing market is primed for you, says Portage Real Estate Board president Rhonda Lodwick.
Lodwick, a local realtor, says the local market still favours sellers “because they’re still getting a pretty good dollar for their homes and there’s not a lot of houses on the market at any given time.”
There were 250 sales of MLS (multiple-listing service) properties in urban and rural Portage in 2012, up from 230 in 2011, she pointed out. Lodwick said about 225 of those were homes, with the rest being lots or nonresidential properties. Those figures also don’t include private sales or properties that were only for sale by one realtor and not open to all of them.
The average value of each sale climbed from $138,250 in 2011 to $155,750 in 2012, a 12.7 per cent increase. In 2010, there were 231 MLS-listed units sold, but their median value was $130,000.
However, the market is not as aggressive as it once was. Where some houses used to last only a few days with a “For Sale” sign on the lawn, the average residential property in the city and rural Portage sells within 30-60 days, Lodwick said.
She anticipates two factors will maintain a strong housing market in the city and rural Portage for the foreseeable future.
“Because there is extremely low rental availability and with the low interest rates, that’s why I think families are buying homes,” the realtor said. “We stay very stable that way.”
The arrival of new immigrants plus the natural ebb and flow of labour in the city also help.
“We have a good exchange of people relocating in and out of Portage. It helps put houses on the market for those who are looking to buy,” she said.
Plus for people looking to upgrade their homes, there are still opportunities because interest rates are so low, she added.
Currently, she said, there is not an overabundance of homes in any price range, but that may change as more properties are listed for sale come spring.
Affordable housing
Lodwick has been asked to share the views of local realtors as head of the Portage Real Estate Board at a forum on affordable housing planned for March 13.
She readily admits creating new affordable housing is difficult especially when a new house can cost $150,000 to build, plus land costs, or construction of a four-plex is priced out at $500,000.
The Portage la Prairie and Central Plains Area Housing Forum is set for March 13 at the PCU Centre from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
The event is being put on by Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives, Portage Community Revitalization Corp., Central Plains Inc., Portage and District Chamber of Commerce and Community Futures Heartland.
It will feature guests panellists such as Lodwick; Dr. Tom Carter, a retired professor of geography from the University of Winnipeg who researched rural housing; Portage developer Chris Bures; James Platt of Manitoba Local Government community and regional planning department; Gladstone Mayor Eileen Clarke; and panellists from Manitoba Housing and the Canadian Mental Health Association.
“The housing shortage is definitely a problem. I look forward to hearing what people have to say,” Lodwick said. “It would be nice to see Portage move forward.”
Tickets for the forum are $25 per person, which includes lunch and refreshments. Those interested in attending can contact Paul at Central Plains Inc. at 204-856-5000. The deadline to purchase tickets is March 8.
– With files from Svjetlana Mlinarevic
clarise.klassen@sunmedia.ca
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