Andrew Shaw
(506) 650-1242

Saint John, Rothesay, Quispamsis and Hampton

The questions people ask before they call anyone.

Answered with the actual numbers from this market rather than with a range someone guessed, and updated as those numbers move. Where the honest answer is that it depends, it says so.

Do I have to pay a REALTOR® to help me buy a home in Saint John?

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 changed recently is that it is negotiated openly rather than assumed: your representation agreement sets out what your brokerage is paid and who pays it, and if the seller's side offers less than that, the difference is yours. Read that part of the agreement before you sign it, and ask me to walk you through it. I would rather explain it twice than have you find out at closing.

The whole buying process, step by step

How much does it cost to sell a home in Saint John?

Commission, negotiated and written into the listing agreement, is the largest piece and comes out of the proceeds. Then legal fees, a mortgage discharge fee, and a prepayment charge if you break a fixed term early, which can be substantial and is worth asking your lender about before you list. Property tax usually adjusts in your favour if you have prepaid the calendar year. Nobody can quote you a total without knowing your mortgage and your price.

What selling actually costs

When is the best time to sell a house in Saint John?

The market here has a clear shape. Spring sells fastest and draws the most buyers, and it is also when the most competing listings arrive, so your home shares its audience. September and October have sold nearly as fast with a thinner stream of new listings beside you. The slow stretch is deep winter: a January listing has taken close to twice as long to sell as a spring one over recent years. A pattern is not a promise, and a well-priced home sells in any month.

The month-by-month numbers

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

In July 2026 the median home across the Saint John board region sold in 27 days, and homes sold for 102.2% of asking price. The days figure is a median: a well-priced home in a wanted area can go in a week, and one priced above the market can sit for months and then sell for less than it would have in the first fortnight.

The current market, updated hourly

Is my property assessment the same as what my house is worth?

No, and the gap is larger than most people expect. An assessment is set for taxation and lags the market. Across recent sales in this area the median came in 17.8% above the assessed value, but the middle half ran from +4.3% to +35.3%, so the assessment is a starting point and not a price. What separates two homes with the same assessment is condition, kitchens, roofs and what the property backs onto.

Look up any address

Are house prices going up or down in Saint John?

Over five years the benchmark home in this region is up 51.7%. The benchmark is one specified house priced every month, so unlike a median it moves only when prices move rather than when the mix of what sold changes. Month to month is noisier than that and worth reading as direction rather than a precise figure.

The price index, month by month

Is now a good time to buy or sell in Saint John?

Right now there is roughly 3.3 months of supply at the current pace of sales, and homes are going for 102.2% of asking price. Under four months of supply generally favours sellers and over six favours buyers. That is the market, not your situation: whether it is a good time for you depends on where you are moving, what you would be buying next, and what your mortgage looks like. Anyone who answers that question without asking you anything is selling something.

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

387 at the moment, counting houses and multi-family and excluding vacant land and commercial property, at a median asking price of $399,900. That figure updates hourly from the MLS® feed.

See what is listed

Why did my property tax go up so much after I bought?

New Brunswick caps how fast an assessment used for taxation can rise, and that cap resets when the property changes hands. Your first full assessment after buying can be a real jump and the tax bill follows it. It is not an error and it is not aimed at you, it is how the Act works. It catches people every year and it is the call I get twelve months after closing.

What happens, with the statute cited

What is the land transfer tax in New Brunswick?

One percent, charged on the greater of the purchase price or the assessed value. That second half is the part that surprises people: if the assessment is higher than what you paid, the tax is calculated on the assessment. Budget roughly one and a half to three percent of the price for closing costs in total, and the estimator on this site works it out for a specific price.

Work it out for a specific price

Do I need a home inspection when buying in Saint John?

It is your money and your decision, and I would want one. Beyond the usual, this is an older housing stock: oil tanks, knob-and-tube wiring, wood heat without a WETT certificate and wells and septic systems all turn up here, and any of them can decide whether the home is insurable. A home that cannot be insured cannot be mortgaged, so it is worth knowing before your financing condition expires rather than after.

Should I sell my house before I buy the next one?

It depends on whether you could carry both for a period and on how confident you are that yours will sell. Buying first and selling after is the more comfortable order and the riskier one financially. Selling first is safer and can leave you between houses. There are ways to structure the timing around the closing dates, and it is worth a conversation before you list rather than after an offer arrives.

Will I pay capital gains tax when I sell my house?

If it has been your principal residence for the whole time you owned it, the gain is generally exempt. If it was a rental, a cottage, inherited, or your principal residence for only part of the time, it gets complicated quickly and depends on facts I do not have. That is a question for an accountant and I will not guess at it. Ask before you sell rather than at tax time.

Sold figures cover the Saint John Real Estate Board region and are reported a month behind. Listing figures are Greater Saint John from the MLS® feed, refreshed hourly. Assessment comparisons use Service New Brunswick open data. Nothing here is legal, tax or financial advice, and none of it is a substitute for a conversation about your own situation.

Still have a question?

Ask me directly, or ask the AI any time of night. It reads the same figures this page does.

Call (506) 650-1242Ask Andrew’s AI