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REAL Brokerage

Straight answers

The questions people actually ask

Answered with this month's real figures rather than a rule of thumb, so nothing here quietly goes stale. Where the honest answer is “it depends”, it says so and then says what it depends on.

How much is my house worth in Saint John?

No website can tell you, and the honest version of that answer is more useful than a number. Here is what the data does say: homes here have been selling at about +17.8% above their assessed value, but the middle half of sales ran anywhere from +4.3% to +35.3%. On a $300,000 assessment that band is roughly ninety thousand dollars wide, and it only covers half of all sales. Which end of it your home lands on depends on the roof, the kitchen, the street and the week you list. That part takes someone standing in it.

See what the assessment gap means for your home

How long does it take to sell a house in Saint John?

In July 2026 the middle home took 27 days to sell, and homes went for 102.2% of what they were asking. That is a fast market by most standards. It is also an average across everything from a downtown condo to a farm outside Sussex, so treat it as the weather rather than the forecast for your street.

The full market read

Is now a good time to buy a house in New Brunswick?

That depends on your own numbers far more than on the market's. What we can tell you is what the market is doing: at this pace, tilted toward sellers, and the index that prices the same house every month has it +51.7% over five years. Anyone who answers this question without asking what you earn, what you owe and how long you plan to stay is selling you something.

What the market is actually doing

What does it cost to buy a house besides the down payment?

More than most people budget for. New Brunswick charges a land transfer tax of one per cent of the greater of the purchase price or the assessed value, and that is due on closing day. Then legal fees, a home inspection, title insurance and the adjustments for whatever the seller prepaid. Our closing cost estimator runs the real arithmetic on your price rather than quoting a rule of thumb.

Estimate your closing costs

How much income do I need to buy a house here?

For the median home at current posted rates, roughly what the market page works out, where every assumption behind the figure is named beside it. Lenders qualify you at a stress-test rate rather than the rate you will actually pay, which is why the income needed is higher than the payment suggests. It is arithmetic, not advice about what you should borrow.

The numbers behind it

Why is my property assessment different from what my house is worth?

Because they are answering different questions. An assessment is set for taxation and lags the market; a sale price is what one buyer paid on one day. Locally the gap has been running about +17.8%, with the middle half of sales between +4.3% and +35.3%. That spread is why multiplying your assessment by any single number produces a figure with no useful meaning. This describes what sale prices did, and says nothing about whether any assessment is correct.

Do I need to sell my house before I buy another one?

Not necessarily, and it is the question worth settling before you fall for a house rather than after. The answer turns on your equity, your lender's appetite and how much overlap you can tolerate. Both orders work here and both have gone wrong for people who did not plan them. Tell us your actual numbers and we will map both against them.

Tell us what you are planning

What is the housing market like in Quispamsis and Rothesay?

Different from the city, and different from each other. The valley towns carry their own price levels and their own pace, which is why our market page breaks the figures out by community rather than publishing one regional number. The community guides cover what it is actually like to live in each of them.

The community guides

How many houses are for sale in Greater Saint John right now?

There are 397 homes on the market, with a middle asking price of $418,500. Those are asking prices on homes currently listed rather than sold prices, and the count covers the towns this team works most rather than the whole board region, which is wider.

See the current read

Do I pay my REALTOR® when I buy a house?

Usually the seller's side pays, out of the proceeds at closing, and that has been the normal arrangement here for a long time. What has changed is that it is negotiated openly rather than assumed. Your representation agreement sets out what the brokerage is paid and who pays it, and if the seller's side offers less than that, the difference is yours. Read that part before you sign, and ask us to walk you through it.

Do I pay tax when I sell my house in New Brunswick?

That is a question for an accountant, and we mean that literally rather than as a way of ending the conversation. Whether a sale is taxable depends on things we are not qualified to assess and would be wrong to guess at, including how the property was used and what else you own. Ask an accountant before you list, not after you have an offer.

What is the difference between waterfront and a water view?

About a road, and often a great deal of money. Waterfront means the property meets the water; a view means you can see it from the property. Listings distinguish the two and so do we, in separate sections, because merging them advertises frontage and delivers a house across the road from it. That is a discovery best avoided on the day you drive out.

Figures on this page come from the New Brunswick Real Estate Board's monthly report, CREA's price index, and Service New Brunswick assessment data, and they update themselves as new months land. Nothing here is tax or legal advice. The Ellis Team at REAL Brokerage.

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