Today, CREA reported on their website that the Parry Sound area that home sales were up considerably from the previous year, as were the number of listings on the market. Probably a combination of the yearly spring and continuing robust local economy.
Read the entire article here.
Last year I wrote an interesting (and somewhat popular) post featuring the much misunderstood blackfly. As blackfly season is early this year (by about 3 weeks), I’ve decided to republish these little known facts:
The number of homes sold through the MLS® System of the Parry Sound Real Estate Board posted a large year-over-year gain in January 2010. The average price of those sales was also up strongly from one year ago, setting a new record for the month
January is almost always one of the slowest months of the year for home sales, and this year is no exception. However, activity in the first month of 2010 stood above January sales in most other years on record.
According to statistics provided by the Board, home sales activity numbered 13 units in January 2010, a gain of 44 per cent from the same month last year. Activity in the month of January has surpassed this level just three times in the past 30 years.
“The difference in the resale housing market now, compared to one year ago, is night and day,” said Shirlene Johnston, President of the Parry Sound Real Estate Board. “It was a good start to the new year, with sales, prices, and new listings all recording double digit gains in January.”
The total dollar value of home sales in January 2010 was $3.6 million, a jump of 83 per cent from levels reported in January 2009.
The residential average price of homes sold through the MLS® System of the Parry Sound Real Estate Board was $274,962 in January 2010. This is the highest level on record for the average home price in the month of January, up 27 per cent from the same month last year.
The number of new residential listings on the Board’s MLS® System rose 24 per cent on a year-over-year basis to 57 units in January.
Despite the uptick in new listings, active residential listings continue to trend downwards from last year’s elevated levels, and this is helping to stabilize the marketplace. There were 293 active residential listings on the Board’s MLS® System at the end of January 2010, down 16 per cent from 12 months ago.
There were 22.5 months of inventory at the end of January 2010. While this sounds high, it is important to remember that an increase is normal at this time of year since demand normally eases relative to supply over autumn and winter months. Last year at this time there were 38.6 months of inventory. 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 Parry Sound Real Estate Board is committed to a high standard of business practice, strong business ethics, and continuing education development that assists REALTORS® in effectively serving the reawl estate needs of the community. With over 100 Members, its REALTORS® service a large geographical area, extending from the French River to the north, southerly to Go Home Lake Road, easterly to the Highway 11 corridor and westerly which includes the shores of Georgian Bay.
from http://creastats.crea.ca/parr/
The long range Environment Canada weather forecast is finally showing some snowflakes and colder weather for Parry Sound, so I guess it is time for me to check the wiper blades, fill up on wiper fluid, and make sure my snow blower is ready for another winter season.
The mild autumn has been a great bonus for real estate buyers and sellers in our area. I’ve always believed that fair weather puts people in a good buying mood, especially for recreational properties. Not to say that I haven’t sold real estate in the midst of raging blizzards ( I sold a Otter Lake waterfront home on Boxing Day 10 years ago with snow accumulating at the rate of 15 cm/hour), it’s just a more pleasant experience when at the very least, the sun is shining.
Last winter started early and didn’t really let up until February. After the weather moderated, potential buyers returned to the area and we ended up selling a couple of waterfront properties long before the spring set in.
If this year’s El Nino weather pattern continues for the winter, it’ll bode well for home and cottage sales after the holidays are over.
If you’re planning to talk any walks along the back roads of the Parry Sound area for the next two weeks, please be aware that it is deer hunting season for the next two weeks.
Remember to wear bright orange of red clothing (no fur hats, please), keep your Ipod at home, and put bright ribbons on your pets. While accidents are not common, it is better to be safe, than shot at.
If you’ve been driving into Parry Sound this past week, you’ll notice that the downtown is under major construction. Sidewalks, constructed from paving stones are being replaced with concrete because of safety concerns. The work is being funded with G8 (or G20) money and is expected to be completed by month’s end.
Later this month, construction on James Street will commence and works continues on the Cascade Street bridge through the autumn.
And I thought summer was supposed to be construction season?
I used to be a decent angler, honest!
But after catching an out of season lake trout back in May (and of course, released it back into the water) I’m batting 0-8 ever since. Skunked! Nadda!
I’ve tried crank bait, spoons, jigs, rapalas, rubber worms…all to no avail. I’ve installed an…errr…. let’s just say an “expensive” (in case my wife reads my blog) fish finder mounted handsomely onto the dash of my 20’ Invader which shows all sorts of activity beneath the surface of Georgian Bay’s water.
Last night, I dropped anchor just north of swing bridge heading to Parry Island to try to jig for whatever chose to “take the bait”. I found a spot in 85 feet of water, dropped anchor, turned on the fish finder and baited my line with a small spinner made specially for the type of fishing I was about to attempt and attached a small, rubber minnow to the end of it.
The fish finder showed large schools of fish consistent at the 20 foot, 45 foot, and sporadically, suspended just about the lake bottom. I figured this would be a no-brainer, as I essentially bobbed the bait in front of the fish. The odds were, in my opinion, favourable that there would be at least one hungry fish amongst the lot.
I guess they had an early dinner, because after 90 minutes of patient jigging, I didn’t get one single nibble.
Any that knows me, knows that I’m not a quitter, and have more than ample patience and perseverance. And, as I established earlier, its not like I’m a novice fisherman, having grown up on Whitefish Lake and taking up the hobby when I was barely past my toddler years.
I’ll continue to head out a couple of times a week in search of the elusive lunkers (or even a sunfish at this point) of Georgian Bay and if more experienced anglers wish to take pity on me and share their favourite techniques or fishing spots, feel free to drop me a line at jimmarshall@gmail.com
It was a relief to see that the weather “finally” cleared up just in time of the 27th annual Sportbike Rally this weekend in Parry Sound. After being taken over by the Parry Sound Motorcycle Club (from the Town of Parry Sound) in 2008, this year’s rally promises to be the best yet.
Each year, the Rally brings hundreds of sportbike enthusiasts into the area which is a huge boom to the local economy. These types of events are extremely important to local restaurants, campsite and hotel operators adversely affected by the recession and weakness in the tourism market.
The first long weekend of spring has come and gone and we’re finding an increasing number of buyers venturing into the Parry Sound area in search of cottage properties. This is good news to people like myself who were unsure a mere year ago of how the recession would affect the local real estate market.
Overall sales are still down slightly from last year (12.5 percent, according to Parry Sound Real Estate Board MLS stats) but most of this number is attributable to dismal January and February sales volumes.
I’m hoping for an improvement in the weather, which has given us few warm days, instead bringing lots of rain and cool weather (similar to 2008). While lakes have not warmed sufficiently for water sports like swimming, bug numbers (black fly and mosquito) have been mercifully tolerable, despite the weather.
Kudos to Stockey Centre manager, Krista Youngs for assembling an impressive cast of performers for 2009.
After recently enjoying an Arlo Guthrie performance at the concert hall, I picked up a brochure for the rest of the year from the box office, and was blown away by the quality of performers who’ll grace the Stockey’s stage this year. Tom Cochrane in June, Bruce Cockburn in November and comedian Pauly Shore in September are just a sample of the high-quality talent coming to Parry Sound this year.
Although originally designed as the permanent home of the Festival of the Sound, the Hall was taken over by the Town early last year and since then, has hosted a broad variety of artists…musical and otherwise. Hopefully, the Stockey will continue to attract quality acts in the future and broaden the scope of the Hall beyond classical music.
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