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/
2 Comments
Great to see that business is starting to pick up. It looks like this is the general case throughout the Canadian real estate market. For example, realty in Calgary is predicted to grow this year by 6.3% in price and 17.7% in sales. Some may not see this as a great year for growth, but any growth is a good sign that the markets are on the way to recovery, and we might even see a stronger recovery in the months or years to come.
It’s funny that the media is once again talking about a housing bubble, especially in the Toronto and Vancouver markets. How things have change in 18 months, when the same media folk were predicting 30% price drops. Just goes to show, don’t believe everything you read.