Barrie City offers many opportunities to those looking to invest in real estate. The city is located in Southern Ontario on the shores of Lake Simcoe within the Northern region of the Greater Golden Horseshoe. This is an area that is densely populated and it is known for being the most industrialized part of Ontario. With a metropolitan population of more than 187,000 residents, Barrie is ranked number 21 among the largest and fastest growing metropolitan region in Canada.
Initially, Barrie City was just an establishment of a few houses and warehouses covering the foot of Nine Mile Portage stretching from Kempenfelt Bay all the way to Fort Willow. However, the Nine Mile Portage plays a very significant role in the economy of Ontario such that it serves as the aboriginal transportation route that has been operational way back before the arrival of the Europeans in Simcoe County.
Real Estate Market
There is an element of optimism with Barrie real estate market which looks brighter and promising in the near future. Experts are of the opinion that the housing starts will show an increase of 4 % and this is attributed to the increase in the number of those immigrating in the city and an increase of employment opportunities which seem to boost the Barrie real estate market.
There is yet another positive sign which shows that the current house sales are likely to remain stronger as the year comes to an end and this translates to a staggering 4,800 homes for sale in the coming year (2019). On average, the price of the homes in Barrie City currently stands at $450,000. When it comes to the sales of single-detached homes, it is projected that there will still be an increase in their prices as well. On the other hand, the average rent for the two-bedroom apartment will rise to $1158 per month and this is good news to property investors in general.
For the inventory, things don’t seem to be working out as expected. The inventory for the housing was lower at 1.7% which in the real sense is unprecedented for the Barrie real estate market. Despite what is indicated in the inventory, there are still some promising signs whereby houses are being sold faster as new homeowners move in the city.
Barrie City Real Estate Trend
The new numbers emerging from Barrie and the District Association of Realtors (BDAR) indicate that housing sales and the average price for homes in Barrie City are trending upwards. This is attributed to the recent statistics which show the price of homes in the city to be increasing steadily at 2.8 % year over year. At the same time, the number of sales improved by 25.4%. Therefore, there were 252 recorded sales in the month of June 2018 and this is in accordance with the report prepared by BDAR.
Contrary to the previous two months, there was a downward trend which saw a decrease both in the sales and average price of those homes that had been sold previously. Also, in the month of May 2018, there was a decline of about 37.1% year over year in the total number of transactions made. In general, the average price of various homes in Barrie real estate market declined by 2.2%.
A similar case scenario was witnessed in April which led to the decline of 42.5% in transactions made so far with the average home prices declining by 15.2 % in comparison to April 2017.
But on the overall, the numbers in the entire Simcoe County with Barrie included showed an exponential increase by 14.7% year over year in the month of June. As a matter of fact, the new numbers indicate a 0.9% increase in the property listing prices starting from the month of May. In June 2018, there was a record of 461 residential property in sales around Simcoe County.
The month of June is perceived to be the first month in which the year over year comparisons did not match or compare directly to the early 2017 overheated real estate market. This means that there is an improvement in the market where everything seems to be returning to the normal rate of increases as it was a common trend in Barrie real estate market a few years ago.
Barrie’s Real Estate Deals
The real estate market in Barrie is at the moment the tightest ever when compared to the previous years. And this is due to the shortage in supply of new houses as the asking prices keep on going higher and higher. As a result, it has become really hard to find a great property with a reasonable price within the city. In spite of such hardships, there is still hope whereby there are still a handful of good real estate bargains in Barrie.
Barrie has always been regarded as one of the most expensive cities in Canada to rent a home for three consecutive months. According to various reports released from different sections of the country in relation to the real estate market, it turns out that city is ranked fourth most expensive place in the country for those looking to rent apartments. Rental prices for the said premises were even high enough to make Barrie the second most expensive city in Ontario after Toronto. When it comes to buying a home in Barrie, the current multiple listing services (MLS) statistics show that the average price for a house within the city is about $473,449. This implies that it is really a difficult moment to start looking for a home in Barrie City.
Despite the increasing prices, the demand for homes in Barrie city is still high. This is attributed to the low supply and the growing number of immigrants coming to settle in the city. The fact that Barrie is an industrialized region in Ontario, it means that the economy of the city contributes more to the growth of the real estate market. Therefore, this is good news to property investors who wish to try their luck in the Canadian real estate.