Staff
Residential sales recorded through the MLS system of the Southern Georgian Bay Association of Realtors came in above year-ago levels in January 2016.
Home sales numbered 154 units in January 2016. This was the best start to any year since 2002.
The Southern Georgian Bay Association of Realtors comprises two distinctive markets. Home sales in the Western Region which includes Wasaga Beach, Springwater, Clearview Township, Collingwood, The Blue Mountains, Municipality of Meaford, and Grey Highlands were unchanged on a year-over-year basis at 96 units in January 2016. This was tied with last year as the third best January on record.
Home sales in the Eastern Region, encompassing the towns of Midland and Penetanguishene, and the townships of Georgian Bay, Severn, Oro-Medonte, Tay, and Tiny totaled 58 units in January. This was an increase of 48.7 per cent from January 2015, and the best January in over a decade.
“With sales still running near-record highs and supply having fallen to near-record lows, the market is historically very tight,” said Kevin Woolham, President of the Southern Georgian Bay Association of Realtors. “That means price growth will likely heat up again heading into the spring and summer.”
The number of new residential listings in January 2016 was 315 units, falling 12.3 per cent from a year earlier to reach its lowest reading for the month in more than a decade. The majority of this decline stems from a shortage of new supply in the Western Region.
Overall supply remains at a decade-low. There were 859 active residential listings on the Association’s MLS® System at the end of January 2016, down 37.7 per cent from year-ago levels.
There were 5.6 months of inventory at the end of January, well below the 10.2 months recorded at the end of January 2015 and 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 January was $49.8 million, down 9.7 per cent from a year earlier. This was the best January on record.
Sales of all types of properties numbered 168 units in January, an increase of seven per cent compared to the same month in 2015. The total value of all properties sold in January 2016 was $53.3 million, up 1.7 per cent from January 2015.
