New Homes
New Homes
Don't tar Manitoba with the same economic brush
The Canadian Home Builders' Association recently published its monthly economic update, evaluating most of the factors that impact the residential construction market in Canada and explaining why we are where we are and where we're headed.
As I've said in the past, employment figures and consistency of employment tend to be the largest indicators for the housing market. Canada's unemployment rate continues to inch higher and, even though Manitoba's rate is a full two percentage points below the national average, all eyes will be on this measurement.
With Canada's GDP growing at a barely noticeable rate, other factors come into play like motor-vehicle sales, which are a good indicator of overall consumer trends. Nationally and locally, these sales are increasing slightly. This is good news in that it implies healthy consumer confidence.
Interest rates in the United States will be locked at record low levels throughout 2013 and therefore will remain low in Canada too, another good indicator for the housing industry.
As I say in this column time after time, be very wary of reports out of Toronto that say Canada's economy is softening. Their Canada consists of one city; maybe two. Our Canada goes from coast to coast and includes every province and city.
Economic conditions have softened in Ontario and British Columbia, whereas Atlantic Canada and the rest of the West are strong.
With residential construction starting to rebound in the U.S., look for lumber and other building materials to increase in price in the near future. Hurricane Sandy also increased demand for materials south of the border.
Renovation spending has increased slightly on a national scale, although not to the level originally anticipated. The key indicators are hardware-type store sales and existing home sales (people tend to renovate before they list a home and after they buy one).
This is not the same case in Manitoba where resale-home demand continues to grow.
Canadian residential building permit data indicates that starts will decline slightly in 2013. However, one has to look at where that decline will take place before getting nervous.
High-rise starts are expected to decline by 30 per cent and low-rise sales will be primarily impacted by land availability. Guess where these two factors are the greatest? Not Manitoba.
Mike Moore is president of the Manitoba Home Builders' Association.
New Homes
New-home warranty law a win-win-win
On November 22, Minister Jim Rondeau announced the introduction of a New Home Warranty Act for Manitoba.
The purpose of this legislation is to ensure that all new homes built for sale are covered by a warranty against defects in materials and labour and also against structural defects. All home builders and warranty providers must be registered under the act, and only registered builders will be permitted to build homes for others or for sale.
The legislation will be a result of considerable consultation with consumer groups, housing boards, government staff, architects, engineers, lawyers, builders and warranty providers. It was definitely an exhaustive process, a number of years in the making.
Only two other provinces, Ontario and British Columbia, have mandatory new-home warranty requirements. In Ontario, the warranty program is operated by a Crown corporation. It is quite a coup that Manitoba is taking the initiative to implement warranty legislation here.
New-home warranty legislation is a win-win-win for consumers, builders and the province as a whole. Consumers will be assured that no matter who builds their home, it will come with a warranty program commensurate with all other new home buyers.
While most new homes in Manitoba are built to the highest of standards, if something does go wrong, consumers will have stronger protection to get their homes repaired.
Although the first big hurdle has been cleared, everyone should be aware that there is still much work to do. The bill has been introduced in the legislature. Like all bills, it must go through three readings and committee hearings before receiving Royal Assent.
In addition, passing the Act is only one part of the process. There are a number of regulations that must accompany this Act. Most of these are precise technical specifications that will require careful wording in order to cover every imaginable occurrence.
Fortunately, many of these regulations have been discussed at length already and so the government is not starting from scratch. Industry experts, consumer groups and provincial staff are all focused on seeing this through.
All parties are committed to ensuring that a Made in Manitoba solution is created for the benefit of all Manitobans.
Mike Moore is president of the Manitoba Home Builders' Association.
New Homes
Professionals learn from professionals
This column has repeatedly espoused the merits of dealing with professional builders, renovators and suppliers.
Issues such as warranty, liability insurance, permits, standards and ethics, full disclosure of taxes and numerous other assurances that come with dealing with a professional are critical to getting the job done right.
One should add professional development and training to that list.
Last week, members of the Manitoba Home Builders' Association went back to school at their annual housing forum to learn from other professionals in their fields about areas important to the well-being of a business and an industry.
Eighteen unique presentations in the categories of leadership, technical, marketing and workplace environment were attended by MHBA members.
The Housing Forum presents an opportunity to interact with peers while pursuing relevant knowledge. Those that have attained the distinction of master builder or master renovator must attend a requisite number of professional development seminars or workshops every year in order to maintain that title.
The opening plenary session kicked off with Dianne Himbault, senior market analyst of the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, presenting the current state of the industry and giving insights into the coming year.
This was extremely informative and will be the subject of numerous future columns.
Diane was followed by Donald Cooper, who gave an illuminating and most entertaining presentation that dealt with selling more, managing smarter and still having a life.
The technical sessions provided invaluable information for the residential construction industry.
Within the leadership stream, presentations concentrated on creating a successful and productive workplace, customer service, a 2013 economic forecast for Canada and Manitoba and a panel discussion on the factors that impact housing affordability.
In marketing, attendees were made more aware of website optimization, positioning for success and the art of sales.
Finally, workplace environment dealt with smart hiring practices, reducing work/life conflict and the role of accident prevention.
Professionals learning from professionals; yet another reason when building, renovating or buying supplies to deal with a Manitoba Home Builders' Association member.
Mike Moore is president of the Manitoba Home Builders' Association.
New Homes
Housing market growing across Prairies
Although this column tends to concentrate on the Winnipeg and Manitoba housing markets, we would be remiss if we didn’t comment on the strength of the housing market right across the Prairies.
Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have all enjoyed stronger housing markets this year and the optimism continues through next year.
Both Calgary and Edmonton have increased new-home starts by almost 100 per cent since the downturn of 2009. With just over 6,300 new home starts in 2009, both cities had experienced tremendous declines from earlier boom years.
However, in 2012, both cities are likely to exceed 12,000 starts and hold to around 11,000 next year. Resale homes continue to increase in value as average prices are projected to be $422,000 in Calgary and $341,000 in Edmonton.
Growth in Saskatchewan has been nothing short of phenomenal. From 3,866 new-home starts in 2009, our neighbours to the west increased to almost 6,000 the following year, more than 7,000 in 2011 and better than 9,000 this year. They’re on track for more than 8,000 next year.
The demand for all housing in Saskatchewan is showing in price increases. The average price of a resale home in Regina is expected to hit $307,500, while in Saskatoon it will be $322,500.
In Winnipeg and throughout Manitoba, we didn’t experience the market depths that our Prairie neighbours experienced in 2009, nor did we boom to the extent they did this past year. We had fantastic growth and had the most starts in more than 25 years, but we did not double or triple our output from 2009.
Because we did not face a calamity in 2009, we have shown steady growth. Starts in Manitoba have gone from 4,174 in 2009 to 5,888 in 2010, and from 6,083 last year to 7,500 this year. We’re projected to remain at the 7,000 mark next year.
Projections have Winnipeg continuing to grow next year, with the single-family detached market remaining constant and the multi-family sector showing a slight increase in.
This more managed growth in Winnipeg is reflected in our resale home prices which are projected to average $265,000 — between $40,000 and $157,000 less than the extremes in Regina and Calgary.
While we continue to take pride in the strength of the new-home market in Winnipeg and Manitoba, we can see that the entire Prairie region is growing and prospering.
Mike Moore is president of the Manitoba Home Builders’ Association.
New Homes
Housing market growing across Prairies
Although this column tends to concentrate on the Winnipeg and Manitoba housing markets, we would be remiss if we didn't comment on the strength of the housing market right across the Prairies.
Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have all enjoyed stronger housing markets this year and the optimism continues through next year.
Both Calgary and Edmonton have increased new-home starts by almost 100 per cent since the downturn of 2009. With just over 6,300 new home starts in 2009, both cities had experienced tremendous declines from earlier boom years.
However, in 2012, both cities are likely to exceed 12,000 starts and hold to around 11,000 next year. Resale homes continue to increase in value as average prices are projected to be $422,000 in Calgary and $341,000 in Edmonton.
Growth in Saskatchewan has been nothing short of phenomenal. From 3,866 new-home starts in 2009, our neighbours to the west increased to almost 6,000 the following year, more than 7,000 in 2011 and better than 9,000 this year. They're on track for more than 8,000 next year.
The demand for all housing in Saskatchewan is showing in price increases. The average price of a resale home in Regina is expected to hit $307,500, while in Saskatoon it will be $322,500.
In Winnipeg and throughout Manitoba, we didn't experience the market depths that our Prairie neighbours experienced in 2009, nor did we boom to the extent they did this past year. We had fantastic growth and had the most starts in more than 25 years, but we did not double or triple our output from 2009.
Because we did not face a calamity in 2009, we have shown steady growth. Starts in Manitoba have gone from 4,174 in 2009 to 5,888 in 2010, and from 6,083 last year to 7,500 this year. We're projected to remain at the 7,000 mark next year.
Projections have Winnipeg continuing to grow next year, with the single-family detached market remaining constant and the multi-family sector showing a slight increase in.
This more managed growth in Winnipeg is reflected in our resale home prices which are projected to average $265,000 -- between $40,000 and $157,000 less than the extremes in Regina and Calgary.
While we continue to take pride in the strength of the new-home market in Winnipeg and Manitoba, we can see that the entire Prairie region is growing and prospering.
Mike Moore is president of the Manitoba Home Builders' Association.