Rising St. John's housing prices hinder new homeowners
Housing prices in the St. John's area are expected to grow modestly over the next few years — information that is cold comfort for those currently struggling to buy a home on the lower end of the market.
Carolyn Power, who hopes to soon become a first-time homeowner, said finding her prospective new abode wasn't an easy task.
"I probably looked at 40 to 50 houses. I looked at a lot of houses," she said.
Power said her biggest challenge was finding an affordable home.
While prices are not rising as fast as they once did, they continue to increase.
Power said when she first started looking at houses, it was an eye-opening experience.
"On my original meeting with someone, I said I didn't want to go above $175,000. And I threw that out the window the second I started looking at $175,000 houses," she said.
"I think I believed that I could find a $160,000 house that I could move into, and I don't think that exists in St. John's right now... If it exists, I didn't see it."
But months of looking has finally paid off.
Power said she hopes to take possession of a house by the end of March — though it requires work, including a new electrical system, which will add to the list price.
"It sort of depends now on the number of walls they have to tear out in order to do it, but I bought [it] for less than $160,000. So, still, I think if I put $30,000 in, I'm still only at $180,000, which I'm looking at as pretty good," she said.