News Release

Vancouver (June 20, 2019) – A nationwide survey of more than 1,000 CENTURY 21 Canada real estate agents finds more than two-thirds feel their clients are very or somewhat concerned about real estate market conditions in their communities. Buyers are significantly more optimistic than sellers, with 57.7 per cent of agents reporting their clients buying property are excited or calm and 28.8 per cent concerned about prices or taxes. In contrast, 38.6 per cent of sellers are excited or calm and 38.7 per cent concerned about prices or taxes.

Nationally, 18.1 per cent of agents said their clients are ‘very concerned’ about market conditions in their community, 50.2 per cent ‘somewhat concerned. Another 16 per cent are ‘neutral,’ 14 per cent ‘optimistic’ and only 1.6 per cent ‘excited.’ Those results are fairly consistent across Canada, though people in the prairies are most concerned, with 24.2 per cent of agents reporting clients are ‘very concerned’ and 52.8 per cent ‘somewhat concerned. In Atlantic Canada people are more confident, with less than eight per cent reported clients are ‘very concerned,’ 38.2 per cent ‘somewhat concerned.’

Many buyers are downgrading their expectations due to current market conditions, with about two thirds of agents saying clients are having to adjust their expectations ‘a lot’ or ‘a fair amount’ due to external forces such as interest rates, stress tests, new taxes, and unique market conditions.

The full results of that survey can be found here (link)

“These results are consistent with what Canadians are hearing from other sources about how the market has been faring over the last year, with some important insights that can be drawn from real estate agents working with clients in communities across Canada,” says Brian Rushton, Executive Vice-President of CENTURY 21 Canada. “The regional differences in the data are striking, and we also heard some interesting anecdotes from agents. For example, some neighbourhoods in Ottawa and Regina are bucking the trend and are hot sellers markets, as are some suburbs of metropolitan centres like Vancouver as people are moving farther out from the core.”

“For me, the survey highlights that real estate is always a good investment when you are buying a home to live in for the long term and if you are willing to be flexible and realistic,” he added. ”Markets are soft in many communities right now, but we’ve seen that before and it is certainly not consistent across the country. It is important in such a tumultuous market to get good advice and know the local market.”

In the current marketplace it is more important than ever to carefully select your real estate agent and make sure to ask potential agents key questions, such as:

• How well do you know this specific community or neighbourhood?
• How long have you been in the business?
• Can you provide references?
• What is your plan to market my property effectively (or, if you are buying, help me find a property that meets my needs and budget)
• What documents will you ask me to sign, and can I get them ahead of time to review?

CENTURY 21 Canada invited all its member real estate agents from coast-to-coast to answer the survey over April and May, 2019. As of June 3, 1,023 had responded – 41 per cent of those from Ontario; 16 per cent from B.C.; 33 per cent from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba; and 10 per cent from Atlantic Canada and Quebec.

-ENDS-
For more information please contact:
Peak Communicators
Shawn Hall
Phone: (604) 619-7913
Email: shawn@peakco.com

About CENTURY 21 Canada®
CENTURY 21 Canada Limited Partnership (century21.ca) is a real estate master franchisor with complete rights to the CENTURY 21® brand in Canada.

The CENTURY 21 System is one of the world’s largest and most recognized residential real estate franchise sales organization with approximately 9,400 independently owned and operated franchised real estate offices worldwide and over 127,000 sales professionals. CENTURY 21 provides comprehensive technology, marketing, training, management, and administrative support for its members in 80 countries.