Staff
Residential sales recorded through the MLS system for the Southern Georgian Bay region totalled 330 units in October 2019. This was an increase of 12.6% from October 2018.
On a year-to-date basis, home sales totalled 2,912 units over the first ten months of the year, an 8.8% gain from the same period in 2018.
The Southern Georgian Bay region comprises two distinctive markets.
Home sales in the Western Region, which includes Wasaga Beach, Clearview Township, Collingwood, The Blue Mountains, the Municipality of Meaford, and Grey Highlands, numbered 208 units in October 2019. This was an increase of 14.9% from October 2018 and marked the third-highest October sales figure ever after 2015 and 2016.
On a year-to-date basis, home sales in the Western Region numbered 1,764 units over the first ten months of the year, up 11.2% from the same period in 2018.
Meanwhile, home sales in the Eastern Region, encompassing the Towns of Midland and Penetanguishene, the Townships of Tay and Tiny, Severn, and Georgian Bay Townships, numbered 122 units in October 2019. This was up 8.9% (10 sales) from October 2018 and stood close to the ten-year average for that month.
On a year-to-date basis, home sales in the Eastern Region numbered 1,148 units over the first ten months of the year, rising 5.3% from the same period in 2018.
“Overall home sales remain solid, particularly in the Western Region of the Association’s geographical coverage area, as buyers continue to take advantage of the higher numbers of new listings we’ve been seeing since the start of the summer,” said Stan Reljic, president of the Southern Georgian Bay Association of Realtors. “The improvement in activity over the second half of this year is in line with the trend across much of Ontario, where sales have been on the rise following a tough couple of years in the wake of the Ontario Fair Housing Plan and B-20 stress test.”
There were 527 new residential listings in October 2019. This was a 19.2% increase on a year-over-year basis and was the largest number of new listings added to the market in the month of October since 2012.
Active residential listings numbered 1,176 units at the end of October, up 9.1% from the end of October 2018. Despite the increase, overall supply remains quite low compared to historical levels.
Months of inventory numbered 3.6 at the end of October 2019, down slightly from the 3.7 months recorded at the end of October 2018 and only about half below the ten-year average of 6.4 months 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 dollar value of all residential transactions in October 2019 was $179.5 million, jumping 23.6% from this time in 2018. This was a new record for the month of October by a margin of more than $30 million.
Sales of all property types numbered 369 units in October 2019, an increase of 12.5% from October 2018. The total value of all properties sold was $191.7 million, rising 21.8% from October 2018.
