Staff
In April, residential sales recorded through the MLS System of the Southern Georgian Bay Association of Realtors came in below the record set a year ago, though it was still the second best April on record for the region, marking a sizeable rebound from the beginning of the year.
Home sales numbered 353 units in April 2017, down 5.1% from a year earlier. Year-to-date home sales numbered 984 units, edging down just 2.5% from the record set last year. This was due to a somewhat slower January this year, which may have been the result of a scarcity of new listings in that month.
The Southern Georgian Bay Association of Realtors comprises two distinctive markets. Home sales in the Western Region, which includes Wasaga Beach, Clearview Township, Collingwood, The Blue Mountains, Municipality of Meaford and part of Grey Highlands fell 12.3% on a year-over-year basis to 213 units in April 2017. Year-to-date home sales in the Western Region numbered 639 units, down 4.2% from this time last year.
Meanwhile, home sales in the Eastern Region, encompassing the Towns of Midland and Penetanguishene, the Townships of Tay and Tiny and part of Georgian Bay Township, totaled 140 units in April. This was up 8.5% from one year earlier and marked a record for the month. Year-to-date home sales in the Eastern Region numbered 345 units, edging up 0.9% from the first four months of last year.
“Sales are improving across the region, helped by more new listings than we had a few months ago,” said Stan Reljic, President of the Southern Georgian Bay Association of Realtors. “Having said that, new listings are still low historically, and active supply is at all-time lows, so there are still many more buyers than sellers out there as evidenced by the kinds of price growth we’re seeing at the moment.”
The number of new residential listings in April 2017 was 507 units, down 15.2% from a year earlier.
Overall supply stands at record lows. There were just 500 active residential listings on the Association’s MLS System at the end of April 2017, down 51.6% from year-ago levels.
There were just 1.4 months of inventory at the end of April, down from 2.8 months recorded at the end of April 2016 and well below the long-run average for this time of year. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.
The value of all residential transactions in April was $166 million, rising 31.5% per cent from April 2016. This was a record for the month and was the first April to post more than $150 million.
Sales of all types of properties numbered 469 units in April, up 8.8% compared to the same month in 2016. The total value of all properties sold in April 2017 was $195.2 million, up 37.2% from April 2016.
