135
AUTUMN
|
EARLY WINTER
2016
|
TheMarket:
Area real estate sales through the endof August continueat a record
pacewith no signs of apending slowdown. Year-to-dateMLS
®
unit
sales as reportedby theSouthernGeorgianBayAssociationof REAL-
TORS (SGBAR) for the firsteightmonthsof2016now total1,946prop-
erties,an increaseof22%over theprior last year. MLS
®
dollarvolume
for theyear now standsat$718.2milliona32% increaseover the first
8monthsof2015. Back in2008when thesouthernGeorgianBaymar-
ket andotherswere in the depths of the global recession, totalMLS
®
dollar volume for theentireyear totalled just under$500million.Now
just 8 years later wemight verywell see localMLS
®
sales exceed$1
billion in2016.
Inmost real estatemarketsacrossCanada,MLS
®
salesare faroutpac-
ing the inventoryofMLS
®
listedproperties.NewMLS
®
listings year-to-
date in our local market area throughAugust total 3,025properties
which is7%below thenumberofnewMLS
®
listings that came tomarket
in the sameperiod last year. A22% increase inMLS
®
sales combined
witha7%decrease innewMLS
®
listingshashelpedpropelourmarket
intoonewhich verymuch favours sellers. During2016wehave seen
anunprecedentednumberof listedpropertiesgarnermultipleofferswith
some selling forwell over theaskingprice.
MLS
®
sales of single familyhomes year-to-date total 1,291homes, an
increase of 19%over 2015. Similarly, area condominium sales are
alsovery strong in2016with379 sales representingan18% increase
over 2015. After several years of lacklustre sales, there has been a
strong resurgence invacant land sales. Year-to-date through theendof
August there havebeen167 vacant lot sales compared to118 in the
first eightmonthsof last year, ahealthy increaseof 42%.Nodoubt the
shortageofMLS
®
listedhomes for salehas helpedpropel vacant land
saleswithbuyers resorting tobuildingversusbuyinganexistinghome.
Virtuallyeverymunicipality inourmarket areahas seenyear-over-year
increases in single familyhome, cottageor chalet sales.
Somewhat surprisingly,ClearviewTownshipcontinues to leadall area
municipalities in termsof the largest increase insingle familyhomesales
year-over-yearwith149 sales through theendof August representing
a43% increaseover2015. Single familyhomesales inWasagaBeach
areup29% thisyearwith486MLS
®
sales reported.Salesof single fam-
ilyhomes inCollingwoodareup15% through theendofAugustwhile
sales in theMunicipalitiesofMeafordandGreyHighlandsareup9%
and20% respectively. LastlyMLS
®
single familyhome sales in theBlue
Mountainsareupamodest 8%with149 sales reported.
With these last fewmonths remaining in2016, we haveevery reason
to remainbullishabout area real estate sales.Withanother ski season
soon tobe upon us, area condoand chalet sales are sure to escalate
with theonly real threat tosalesbeingan inadequate levelof listedprop-
erties for sale.
|E|
During2016we have seen an
unprecedented number of listed
properties garnermultiple offers
with some selling forwell over
the asking price.
