St. John's condo market cooling off

After several boom years for St. John’s housing market, one major sector is beginning to cool off, reports CBC News.

Condos were experiencing noticeable increases in St. John’s and the surrounding areas for years, but now, it appears that things are about to change. CMHC senior market analyst Chris Janes, says that both new and existing condo inventory has been spending more time on the market lately.

“There’s 229 active condo listings right now on the MLS system, and out of that we (have) about 130 or so (that) are actually new condo listings," Janes said in an interview.

The drop in condo interest has already had a direct effect on the market. Some new developments in the area have stalled, and there has been a slowdown in sales of existing inventory.

According to Janes, this has resulted in lower prices, which is welcome news for people looking to buy a condo.

“Last year, the average new condo price was down about 8 per cent, so again a little bit because of that oversupply situation,” he said. “And right now, the average existing condo price was down four per cent in 2013.”

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