The Estrie real estate market saw a significant slowdown in sales in 2022, which did not stop house prices from continuing to rise.
The meteoric rise in interest rates in 2022 means the average home in Sherbrooke now costs $700 more a month than it did at the same time last year.
However, the real estate overheating of the pandemic years has given way to a decline in sales. Despite this decline, buyers are still paying more to become an owner.
In 2021, 11,841 homes were sold in the region compared to 9,003 the previous year, a 24% decrease.
In the Sherbrooke metro area, which includes Magog, Windsor and North Hatley, single-family home sales fell 17% in 2022 to an average price of $351,000, while homes sold for 15% more than in 2021.
The successive interest rate hikes have significantly reduced the purchasing power of buyers.
Mortgage broker Jean-François Langlois Hardy doing arithmetic. A year ago, a couple was paying $1,374 a month for a $350,000 home at a variable interest rate of 1.35%.
A year later, the monthly payments for the same home at a 5.55% floating rate are $2,146, or $772 more per month.
First-time homebuyers should therefore lower their expectations until prices stabilize and interest rates start falling again.