Photo: Sharon Gardiner
Perhaps you have noticed some changes in the area? New faces? We are excited to say that there has been an influx of new people to the area who embrace much of what the Madawaska Valley and its surroundings has to offer. Some are young retirees and some are the younger generation returning home with their families. I also have successfully sold one commercial building and there are two other business sales slated to close in 2018. This number of commercial sales over a short period is an encouraging sign.
I’m excited to report on prices in the immediate area (Madawaska Valley and two surrounding municipalities). In this region 121 homes and cottages have sold up to the end of November 2017 and the average price of homes is now over $220,000. Prices rose about 8% over last year for the year ending October 31, 2017. The overall price increase from 2016 to the end of November is just over 6%. I would consider our real estate market less volatile than the city markets. We do not spike, but rather blip up and down. We finished up 2017 with a total of 124 sales and an average sale price of $218,580. This represents an increase of a little over 5% over 2016 prices.
It always takes time for shifts to happen in real estate and I feel fairly confident in saying that when Tim Hortons comes to town, we will find that other businesses follow. Tim’s do their studies – traffic counts and endless homework. They do not make their decisions recklessly, so I think that I can honestly attribute some of the commercial changes directly to Tim Hortons! Their presence is a good sign that we are well positioned for more development.
That means here in the Madawaska Valley, we need to continue to advocate for more economic development and for continued efforts to promote year-round tourism in our region. With my office across from the Railway Station, I can see how many people are around the building all the time. Not everyone goes inside, but they enjoy the picnic tables, use the Wi-Fi, attend events or just plain gather to chat. It is the heart of our community and a recognizable landmark! If our goal is to encourage visitors to “stay for a lifetime”, then to do this we need recreation, good healthcare, schools, arts and culture. We need efforts from our municipal officials to continue to push for economic development or we will stagnate.
We need them to keep pushing! We deserve the best!
About the author: Pat Scott is the owner and Broker of Record at Queenswood National Real Estate Ltd. She came to the area in 1976, raised her family here and considers it home. Pat’s real estate career began in 1990 at Queenswood. While she purchased the company in 2014, she mostly loves the listing and selling part of the job.
