escarpment
®
REAL ESTATE
111
SPRING
2015
|
Normallywhen I write this piece, I wax on for a bit about
something current in our real estatemarket or real
estate in general and then transition into some
statistical data. However, this go around the
statistical data is
THESTORY
in our area.
Since2008,
our areahadbeen firmlyembedded inaBuyer’sMar-
ket. This is to say that theBuyers had the advantage in the real estate
transaction.We all learnedabout this in ‘Economics 001’. Toomuch
supplycoupledwith too littledemandputs thepersonbuying theproduct
in thedriver’s seat so to speak.DespiteapronouncedSeller’smarket in
many of our feeder markets, the same impetus that drove them, never
seemed tomake itswaynorth.
Wedidseeamarket trending towards balance lastyear,but compared
toToronto,wewerestilloutofwhack.Was thisacaseofprimaryversus
discretionary real estate purchasing?We have said it before…in our
area, thereareahugenumber
of peoplewhodonotHAVE to
buy…TheyWANT to buy. So,
when it comes time tomake a
decision about buying a sec-
ond home, or making amove
up north permanently, the real
estate market is not the only
market thatpeoplecheck. They
check the stockmarket tomake
sure that theirRRSPsare stable.
They check the job market to
make sure they will have the
ability to continue working.
Theycheck thebondmarket for
yields and the mortgage mar-
ket for rates. It isacomplicated
setofexaminations that leadsa
person to buy or upgrade in
our real estate market in the
economicclimate thatwehave
been living in for the last 7
years.
The theories put forth inDavid
Foot’s seminal work on demographics and its impact onmarkets such
as ours “BoomBust andEcho”maybe coming tobear. The thin edge
of thewedge that is the Baby Boom has entered retirement age. The
term retirement has come tomean different things todifferent people
though. It may not mean a complete cessation of work to everyone. It
maymeana slowdown in thepace.A renewed focuson lifestyle.
It isno secret that ourareahasanexcellent4-season lifestyleat itsvery
core.Perhaps thepeoplewhohavebeenputtingoff theirdecision toup-
gradeor relocate for lifestyleare finallypulling the trigger after apro-
longedperiodof indecision brought on by external economic forces
beyond their control.
Despiteoneof thecoldestwinters inmanyyears, area real estate sales
in the firstquarterof2015haveperformedexceedinglywell, farbetter
thanwhat is typicallydemonstrated for this timeofyear. Following in the
wake of strong sales during January and February,MLS sales as re-
ported through theSouthernGeorgianBayAssociationof REALTORS
during themonthofMarch totaled
$64.0million, an increaseof 57%
fromMarch2014. MLS unit sales
during themonth increasedby47%
with 189 MLS sales reported in
March compared to 129 during
the samemonth last year.
TotalMLS sales of $145.5million
during the first quarter of 2015 re-
flectsa41% increasecompared to
the first quarterof2014while total
MLSunit sales areup32%. While
the severe cold and excessive
snowfallweexperienced in thewin-
ter of 2013/2014 did suppress
sales during the first quarter of last
year, thiswinter has beenharshas
wellwith seemingly little impact on
MLS salesactivityoverall.
MLS single family home sales
through the end of March are up
30%witheverymunicipality show-
ing robustgainsover theprioryear.
Single familyhomesales inColling-
woodare up50% year-to-datewhileClearview, theBlueMountains,
theMunicipalityofMeafordandWasagaBeachareall posting sales
increases of 36% to38% year-over year. Condominium saleswhich
havebeen very strongover thepast twelve toeighteenmonths areup
50% for the first threemonths of 2015with 95MLS condo sales re-
portedyear-to-datecompared to63 salesoneyearago.
☛
DesmondvonTeichman
Broker of Record, Owner, Royal LePage
LocationsNorthRealty, Brokerage
By
MARKET
watch
Statisticallywe are trending into the realm
of a “seller’s”market somethingwe have
not seen for several years, with a
sales-to-listing ratio of 40%, as
reflected by the fact that one
out of every 2.5MLS®
properties listed have
sold thus far
in2015.
