Broker notices local trend

One industry player on the front lines has confirmed what one economist has said about worrisome Canadian markets.

One industry player on the front lines has confirmed what one economist has said about worrisome Canadian markets.

"The market in Regina has slowed down for sure," Jackson Middleton, The Kilted Broker, wrote on MortgageBrokerNews.ca. "There are builders with huge vacant inventory, from what I can tell they may have reached a little too far.

"In talking with local Realtors, the inventory on MLS is currently almost double what would be considered a balanced market."

Forget about Toronto and Vancouver; it’s some other surprising markets that one economists believes should worry Canadians.

Often thought of as the two most overheated markets in Canada, Vancouver and Toronto should be sharing the limelight with Montreal, Winnipeg, Regina and Saskatchewan – all areas that have seen a recent condo boom, according to National Bank economist Marc Pinsonneault.

To support argument, Pinsonneault points to the number of unabsorbed units in these areas. Speaking to the Globe and Mail:

“It was the eighth consecutive year that ended with Montreal having the greater number of unabsorbed new units, for a population a third less than that of metropolitan Toronto,” Pinsonneault said. “For almost a year now, the number of [houses or homeowner units] under construction in Montreal, though stable, has been growing relative to absorptions.”

In 2013, Montreal had 712 unabsorbed units, compared to just 260 in Toronto. Despite the ever-growing number of unabsorbed units in Montreal, developers still favour condo construction over houses, according to the Globe.

The trend extends to Manitoba and Saskatchewan as well.

In Winnipeg, for example, the number of unabsorbed condo units increased from 53 units in April 2012 to 248 in September of this year.

Meanwhile in Toronto, 4,753 new condos were sold in the third quarter of this year, marking a 53 per cent year-over-year increase from a 10-year low in 2013. It was the third best summer for the market, trailing only 2011 and 2007. The number of unsold units also dropped 11 per cent during the quarter to 16,743.