For sale signs will soon be going up on 74 old military houses in Moncton’s west end after the federal government determined they no longer needed the single and semi-detached houses in Acadia Park, but prospective buyers won’t have long to decide.
Any offers on the properties must be made by Feb. 20 to Public Works and Government Services Canada.
David Maynard is interested in buying one of the homes which is right next to his, but has some reservations.
“I’d really like to, but I don’t see it happening the way the proposals are going through,” he said.
Royal Lepage will handle the sale of 15 properties, the rest of the homes will be sold in six large blocks, ideally to developers.
All levels of government had four months to express interest in the properties, however only one federal agency came forward.
That leaves individual buyers such as Maynard frustrated.
“It’s convoluted,” he said. “They’re not making it easy. They said from day one that they’re more interested in selling to developers.”
In May, more than 100 people attended a public meeting to discuss what will happen to the homes.
Concerns about flood of homes on the market
Many expressed concerns that the sale of the homes could flood an already saturated real estate market, driving down the value of other houses in the neighborhood.
The incoming president of Moncton’s real estate board, André Malenfant, says he’s never seen so many houses come onto the market from the same seller.
“I don’t recall a similar scenario,” he said.
Malenfant says it’s bound to have an impact on the market, a flood of cheap, entry level homes in a neighborhood that had 40 sales last year.
He usually says, it takes about four months to sell a house in these neighborhoods at an average price of $160,000.
“I think it will have a negative impact on supply, on the immediate neighborhood,” Malenfant said. “The new and old, west end and maybe even Moncton center and downtown Moncton.”
The federal government doesn’t have anyone in Moncton to explain the sales strategy, but is arranging some open houses for potential buyers.
The first is this Thursday.
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