Manitoba's economic performance praised

January 19, 2010
Winnipeg Free Press
Written by: Murray McNeill

WINNIPEG — About 300 Winnipeg real estate agents were served a bellyful of good news today at the WinnipegREALTORS fourth annual forecast breakfast.

Speaker after speaker — five in total — got up to sing the praises of the local economy, construction sector, and real estate market.

For example, in spite of last year’s global recession, Manitoba’s construction industry continues to boom, they were told. The province’s population is growing and employment and consumer confidence remain high.

And even though sales of resale-homes last year were down 3.2 per cent from 2008, it was still the fourth best year on record for sales through the WinnipegREALTORS Multiple Listing Service (MLS), and the best ever for dollar volume.

About the only sobering news was that there was a double-digit decline last year in the number of single-family housing starts in the Winnipeg area.

But even the home-building sector is expected to bounce back this year, they were told. And the resale market is also expected to post year-over-year increases in both unit sales and dollar volume.

As Destination Winnipeg’s Greg Dandewich put it, "Things look good."

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca