New Brunswick·NewNew Brunswick’s housing market might find some stability soon, according to numbers from the Canadian Real Estate Association. Stats from September show a decrease in houses sold as well as steadier price increases.Stats from September show declines in houses sold, steadier price increasesOliver Pearson · CBC News · Posted: Oct 25, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesHousing prices are starting to ‘cool a little bit,’ according to Saint John-area real estate agent Kim Hunter. (Patrick Morrell/CBC)After years of high prices and quick sales going way above listing prices, the housing market may be trending toward some equilibrium — at least in New Brunswick.Statistics from the Canadian Real Estate Association show the number of homes sold last month is down 2.1 per cent compared to September 2024.“Market conditions are moving towards a balanced market, but still tilted slightly towards the sellers market,” said Kim Hunter, a Saint John-area realtor with EXIT Realty Specialists.For September, the stats also showed home sales were 11.5 per cent below the five-year average and 8.4 per cent below the 10-year average.Hunter said we’re getting closer to seeing a balance between supply and demand.“Homes are selling within a reasonable time period, not these crazy two and three days on the market. And prices are growing more steadily, but not as sharply,” said Hunter, who is also a director of the New Brunswick Real Estate Board.She said most houses now take seven to 10 days to sell. WATCH | What’s going on in the N.B. housing market?:N.B. real estate market starting to become more balancedAfter being a seller’s market for several years, the province’s real estate market is starting to even out, says Kim Hunter, a director of the New Brunswick Real Estate Board. She says homes are taking a bit longer to sell and prices are rising less Although prices are still going up, Hunter said they’re starting to “cool a little bit.”“Prices aren’t increasing as significantly as they did back in 2022,” she said.The benchmark price of a single-family home is still up just over five per cent compared to a year ago.The average price of a home in New Brunswick is $341,101.In the Fredericton area, it’s $331,061.In the greater Moncton area, it’s $375,504.In Saint John, it’s $386,276.In the north and valley regions, the average price is $242,428.Hunter said the three cities are still mostly seller markets, but the north and valley regions bring that average down to create a provincially close-to-balanced market that leans toward sellers.The north region includes communities north of Shediac, like Miramichi, Bathurst and Campbellton, as well as the centre of the province. The valley region takes in all the towns along the St. John River valley north of Fredericton.The north and valley region helped offset the decline in house sales with an increase of 6.5 per cent, while greater Moncton was unchanged, and Saint John had a 4.6 per cent decline. Fredericton had the biggest year-over-year decline at 10 per cent.Saint John-area realtor Kim Hunter said it’s important to check your local market as houses are still going above asking price while some sell below. (Submitted by Kim Hunter)In September, the sold-over-asking-price percentage was 104 per cent in Saint John, 99 per cent in Fredericton and 96 per cent in Moncton. In the north and valley region, the percentage was 93.Hunter said it’s important to look at the most local market when trying to find a home, instead of watching larger provincial or national trends. Within each city you can find pockets where there’s specific neighbourhoods that are selling for a much higher percentage over asking price and in other areas they’re selling below asking price.- Kim Hunter, Saint John-area EXIT realtor.“Within each city you can find pockets where there’s specific neighbourhoods that are selling for a much higher percentage over asking price and in other areas they’re selling below asking price.”In the first nine months of 2025, 7,514 units were sold, which is a gain of 3.8 per cent compared to the previous year.Advice for new buyersHunter’s first piece of advice for first-time homebuyers is “do your homework.”Part of that homework is having a pre-approved mortgage before house hunting.Hunter said mortgage rates are in a better place for prospective buyers due to steady Bank of Canada interest rate cuts.“Oftentimes, when you get a phone call from a first-time buyer, they’ll ask to see a house that you suspect is way out of their budget. So until you know what they can afford to buy, it’s tough to get them started to go home shopping.”She stressed the importance of finding a licensed real estate agent that “knows their stuff.”As well, buyers should know their wants and needs for their first house, but temper their expectations.N.B. is an attractive housing provinceNationally, home prices have stayed steady so far this year, after some decline in the first quarter.The average home price last month was $676,154, which is down 3.4 per cent from last September.At almost double the price of New Brunswick’s average, the province remains an attractive place to move to, Hunter said.“That’s significantly less than the Canadian average … that’s why people are still flocking to New Brunswick, because of our low housing inventory prices,” she said.ABOUT THE AUTHOROliver Pearson is a reporter at CBC New Brunswick. He can be reached at oliver.pearson@cbc.caWith files from Clare MacKenzie
N.B. housing market shows signs of cooling as sales slow and prices steady
