A crazy run -up put Halifax on the map, but was the market built to last for a long time?

The Halifaxhuizenmarkt settles in a new normal after a meteorical rise, but signing suggests that it cools far from completely.

Buyers’ demand remains strong in the coastal city. With its relaxed charm, best rated restaurants, access to nature and relative affordability compared to the most important subways of Canada, Halifax continues to attract interest from all over the country and then.

“Nova Scotia, I think, was a step while it is now a destination,” said Re/Max Nova broker/partner Ryan Hartlen.

Hartlen describes the current housing market as ‘a light market for sellers’. He said that the city “came out of a really strong selling market”, and although some elements remain: “It is not nearly as intense as it was.”

Bidding wars and sales about questions still happen, but usually at the bottom of the market. “Everything that is lower than the average selling price, say $ 600,000, that is generally where you still see the competition, multiple offers and bids that are more than Ask Price,” said Hartlen.

“But once you have entered that reach of $ 750,000 and higher, things start to slow things down.”

The average price of Halifax has risen by around 75 percent since 2019, when it fluctuated around $ 350,000.

RE/MAXs 2025 Autumn Homes Outlook This season, an increase in turnover and prices by two percent predicts compared to 2024, with the average price that is expected to land at $ 614,000.

All Nova Scotia was lifted in the era with low interest rates, high migration from 2021-2022.

The population of Nova Scotia cracked 1 million people at the end of 2021 and has since continued to climb every year. Halifax has around 500,000 people and the population is expected to grow rapidly. Halifax City staff has estimated that the city could double the population By 2050.

Overtake the rest of the country

On the way to the pandemic, Halifax already had a low inventory, Hartlen said. Low stock clashed with a sudden increase in demand, which resulted in a sharp rise in house prices. “The prices went up of course, as they did in Canada,” said Hartlen. “But for us I had the feeling that it was almost a catch -up of the previous 10 years.”

Compared to large markets such as Toronto or Vancouver, Halifax had not seen the same dramatic growth in average housing values ​​in the past decade. “It wasn’t flat, but compared to those cities we didn’t have the big jumps,” he said. “So it felt like this just brought us back to where we should probably have been.”

That momentum wore prices above expectations, fed by national trends and migration driven by Pandemie. Yet the real shift can be the new status of Halifax.

“Since the pandemic, Halifax has been put on the map in many ways,” said Hartlen.

Demographic factors

Hartlen said that Halifax’s market dynamics are influenced by the aging population, “although (the demographic) is now younger,” he said.

He points to the stability created by the Department of National Defense, the largest employer in the city.

Halifax is also the home of a high concentration of universities, which, in addition to creating many jobs, brings a pipeline of new talent to the province.

Why the current market can be sustainable

Hartlen believes that Halifax is well positioned to retain both activity and prices compared to larger Canadian cities.

He points to the pure growth that takes place in the region. “We have a lot of development going on, a lot of cultural expansion, urban development, nightlife, restaurants – there is generally just such a big increase,” he said. “It is now a place that people want to be used to.”

Halifax helped that shift to support its price profits from the Pandemic era, even if some larger markets fall falls. “Relatively with those other cities, we are still a relatively cheap option,” said Hartlen. “And we have almost as much to offer.”

Although Halifax does not have Major League sports teams, it has built up a lifestyle appeal power that resonates with newcomers and old residents. “That’s why we didn’t see the big drops that post some other cities,” said Hartlen. “The basic principles were still quite strong here and I feel that we were isolated from some of the negative aspects that touched elsewhere.”

RE/Max Nova has 285 agents and various offices in the regional municipality of Halifax and one office in Windsor, NS.