Best Places to Invest in Real Estate in New Brunswick 2021
Pursuing properties in New Brunswick is an enticing prospect for many real estate investors. Its rich culture is partially thanks to its status as the only bilingual province, but also due to its status as a province that still abides by many traditional ways – including the fact that only about half of its population lives in urban areas. It is also heavily forested, lending a natural quality to the province that’s attractive to many residents and newcomers alike. The province is so beautiful that tourism undergirds its economic wellbeing, and the region draws in hundreds of thousands of tourists – many of whom decide to make it their permanent home or regular vacation destination.
New Brunswick’s economy
Understanding the economic prospects of a province is a key metric in determining whether or not it’s worthy of investment. The dominant industries are in the “primary sector,” meaning that they’re extractive in nature – think of farming, logging, mining or fishing. This is somewhat unorthodox in many countries as developed as Canada, but New Brunswick’s economy is diverse enough beyond these industries to make economic success a continuing reality. These natural resources hold significant value, and the most common exports include blueberries, potatoes, apples, cranberries, maple syrup, poultry and dairy, among other agricultural products. Mining of resources like zinc, lead, potash and copper are also major employers in the area.
Non-resident tourism is another real driver of revenue and economic success in the province. Roughly half a billion dollars is spent on an annual basis by visitors to New Brunswick. The natural beauty of the province is something that needs to be protected moving forward, balanced with the forestry industry, which responsibly harvests enough wood to power a half-billion dollars in revenue every year. These extractive industries mean that there is likely real estate investing opportunity in urban areas as well as in the smaller towns that dot the areas where this primary sector work is performed.
Saint John, New Brunswick
This seaport town is the oldest incorporated city in all of Canada and was the largest one in the province until it was overtaken by Moncton in 2016. It’s a remarkably busy port for being a city of only about 68,000 and a metro region of 126,000 – the third-busiest port in Canada when measured by tonnage. This speaks to the city’s legacy and continuing status as a blue-collar town driven largely by heavy industry. The largest dry dock in Canada and the biggest oil refinery in the country both call New Brunswick home, and the Irving companies continue to ensure that primary sector industries (and adjacent industries) like paper mills, pulp mills, shipbuilding, forestry and oil maintain a strong presence here.
The real estate outlook in Saint John is promising, even though it was temporarily slowed down by the threat of COVID-19. For example, almost 14 percent more units were sold in July 2020 than in July 2019, which represents a record for that month and, in fact, represented the most for any month in Saint John's history. Even with the coronavirus pandemic, the first seven months of 2020 saw an uptick of around 3 percent in total when compared to that period from 2019, so clearly the real estate market in the city is doing just fine.
Going along with this is higher prices as the market heats up. The average home in July 2020 sold for around $202,000, which represents a record high for the city. The surging number of properties on the market shows that the market is still struggling to surpass pre-COVID figures by some measures but is also far surpassing expectations in other ways.
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Moncton, New Brunswick
The largest city in New Brunswick has a diversified economy that is frequently studied by national observers and exceeds expectations. It frequently has a lower unemployment rate than many surrounding and comparable cities, so it represents a city where real estate investing could be attractive thanks to this stability.
Moncton’s economy is traditionally anchored on its status as a hub of transportation, retail and distribution. It’s centrally located within the Maritime Provinces, which gives it a great opportunity to draw in tens of thousands of people and also function as this centrepiece of distribution. The city is also the home of many regional and national companies as a result of this catchment and is a hotbed for federal service employment.
Again, as with Saint John, Moncton has been experiencing the problems that have gone around with COVID-19 but have rebounded forcefully during this past summer. Home sales surged in July 2020 when compared to July 2019, even though cumulative sales over the year so far have seen a decline. Prices are also surging in the city, so real estate investors should take a good long look at Moncton for rental and purchase opportunities.
Fredericton, New Brunswick
New Brunswick’s capital city is home to two universities and several other rich cultural institutions. It’s historically been a hotbed of fine arts and is one of the most educated populations of any city in Canada. The province’s government is a major employer, and IT infrastructure ensures that the city is viewed as a forward-looking place thanks to the installation of free municipal WiFi.
As with New Brunswick’s other major cities, the market in Fredericton is picking up real steam in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prices are on the rise, even as home sales are still failing to live up to 2019 expectations in terms of gross numbers.
If you’re looking into real estate investing in New Brunswick, the overall outlook is that the province’s market is doing well to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, it is actually outpacing the pre-COVID metrics in some ways. However, this has meant that prices are surging in some areas due to high levels of emigration in the wake of the pandemic, and a lower inventory than usual for homes. New Brunswick is a naturally beautiful province with settlements all over the place, so we encourage investors in real estate to not only consider major urban areas.
Real Estate Professionals in New Brunswick
We have searched high and low for real estate investing professionals in New Brunswick. Below, you can find professionals we have researched and can confirm they specialize in working with Real Estate Investors.
To ensure the maximum success in real estate investing in New Brunswick, or any city, you should always use professionals who understand and work with investors, your income depends on it.
This list may not fully list all the professionals in the area, but the ones we have personally investigated and that we would refer our clients to.
If you’re a real estate professional and would like us to consider adding you to the list, please contact us.
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