125
SUMMER
2016
|
TheMarket:
Onewordbest describes theongoingdemand forarea real estate,
"insatiable!" MLS
®
sales inMayas reportedby theSouthernGeorgian
BayAssociationof REALTORS (SGBAR) totalled314properties, an in-
creaseof31%overMay2015sales. MLS
®
dollar sales for themonth
broke the$100millionbarriercoming inat$114.2million,an increase
of45%overMay last yearwhen$78.8million inpropertiesweresold.
Year-to-dateMLS
®
unit sales for the first fivemonths of 2016now
total1,073properties,an increaseof23%over lastyear. MLS
®
dollar
volume for theyearnow standsat$389.4million,32%higher than the
same time last year. Toput things intoperspective, in2008whenwe
wereembroiled in the recession, totalMLS
®
dollarvolume for theentire
year totalled$489.2millionnowwith just 5months under our belts in
2016wearealready80% towhere total saleswere for theentireyear
in2008.
As is the casewithmostmajor real estatemarkets acrossCanada,
inventory of listed properties for sale is down from one year ago al-
though the situationhere locally is starting to improve.NewMLS
®
list-
ings inMay totalled534propertieswhich is just3%below the550new
listings that came tomarket inMayof last year. Year-to-dateMLS
®
list-
inghoweverare8%below2015 levelswith1,910newMLS
®
listings
reported thisyear compared to2,072 last year.
Thegrowth inarea condominium sales areoutpacing the sales of
single familyhomes. Through theendofMaycondo salesareup27%
from last yearwith217MLS
®
salesyear-to-date. MLS
®
single family
home sales totalling714properties reflectsa20%over the594home
sold in the first fivemonths of 2015. After twoor three slowyears,we
have seena very strong resurgence in vacant land sales. Year-to-date
therehavebeen105 vacant lot sales compared to70 last year, an in-
crease of 50%. Clearly the shortage of finished homes listed for sale
has helped todrive the saleof vacant lotswithbuyers electing tobuild
inamarketwhere thereclearlya shortageof homes tochoose from.
Not all areas of our market areperforming equallyaswell in this
bullishmarket.ClearviewTownship leadsallareamunicipalities in terms
of the largest increase in single family home sales year-over-year with
92 sales through theendofMaymarkinga77% increaseover2015.
Sales in Stayner havebeen very strong this year in part due to theaf-
fordablenatureof homes in that community.
I recently submittedanofferonbehalfof clients foraStaynerhome
thatwasapowerof sale. Therewereeightoffersand thepropertysold
forwell over the$199,000askingprice. Single family home sales in
WasagaBeach are up35% this year with 280MLS sales reported.
Sales of single family homes in Collingwood are up amodest 13%
through theendofMaywhile sales in theMunicipalityofMeafordand
GreyHighlands are down12%and19% respectively. Lastly single
family home sales arealsodown from last year in theBlueMountains
with73 sales reflectinga6%decrease fromoneyearago.
Aswehead into thesecondhalfof theyear, theonlyapparent threat
to the robust salesactivityweareexperiencing is the insufficient supply
of properties on themarket. For those looking to sell, the timing right
nowcouldnever bebetter tomaximize theequity inyour property. At
the same time, if you thenneed to turnaroundanpurchase something
else, youmay run into stiff competitionandmultipleoffers, forcingyou
topay full list priceorabove for thepropertyof yourdesires.
|E|
Oneword best describes the
ongoing demand for area real estate,
"INSATIABLE!"
