May 2024 Manitoba Real Estate Update

In May 2024 Manitoba’s real estate market continued its robust performance, recording 1,883 home sales through MLS® Systems—an increase of 14.5% from May 2023. This is the second highest May in history and places the market 4.5% higher than the five-year and 6.7% higher than the ten-year May average.

6 170 homes were sold between January and May 2024. This is a 15.5% increase from the same period of 2023. This sustained growth is a continuation of a trend that started last spring. The average price of homes sold in May, 2024, was $371.224, an increase of 3.6% over the previous year. The average price for the year to date also increased, reaching $366.082, which was 6.5% more than in the first five month of 2023.

New listings have been decreasing on the supply-side. In May 2024, there were 2,608 new residential listings. That’s a 6.3% drop from the previous May and below the averages over the past five and ten years by 3% and respectively. At the end of May, active residential listings numbered 3,803 homes, a decrease of 4.4% from May 20,23. These figures are slightly higher than the five-year median by 1.9%, but significantly lower than the ten-year median by 18.9%.

The months of inventory—a measure of how long it would take to sell the current supply of homes at the current sales pace—stood at 2 months by the end of May 2024. This is down from the 2.4 months of May 2023, and below the long run average of 2.7. This indicates a tighter housing market.

Overall, demand is still strong. However, the trend of declining new listings and inventory indicates a possible tightening of the market in the future, which could further affect prices and availability.

Winnipeg Rental Market

According to the CMHC’s Rental Market Report January 2024The purpose-built rental market experienced a vacancy of 1.8%. The average rate of $1,427 for two-bedroom units increased by 4.4%. It is important to note two-bedroom units were excluded from rent increase regulations. The vacancy rate in the condominium apartment market was 1.8% and the average rent for a two-bedroom unit was $1,333.

The rental market tightened up, especially in suburban areas. Average vacancy rates fell and rents increased faster than the city’s average. The market became more constrained overall, but rent growth was moderate compared to other Prairie Cities. The increased competition in the rental markets reduced availability for families with low incomes; vacancy rates fell to between 1% and 2 %.

Unemployment 

April is a month of celebration. provincial employmentThe economy recovered with a 0.4% increase after a decline in march. This growth was driven primarily by gains both in full-time and part-time work, which grew by 0.5% and 0.2% respectively. In the year April 2023-April 2024, Manitoba’s total employment grew by 2.2% (15,000 jobs).

Despite these gains, Manitoba’s unemployment rate rose for the third consecutive month, reaching 5.1%, although it remains below the national average of 6.1%. The working population has also increased by 0.4% to 703,300.

Unemployment rates differ by region

• Interlake: 4.9%
• Parklands North: 5.2%
• South Central and North Central: 5%
• Southeast: 4.6%
• Southwest: 5.0%
• Winnipeg: 5.3%