My report includes updates from other regions; London, Brantford, Sarnia & K-W
By
Mark Schadenberg
In
the first 8 months of 2016 the Woodstock-Ingersoll District Real Estate Board
has included 1084 transactions – an increase of 81 in total compared to 2015,
and more remarkably 268 ahead of the 2014 pace.
The
month of August included 152 reported sales.
The
overall effect on the economy locally is astounding, in my opinion, especially
when you factor in sales not reported through WIDREB such as the Senator Homes
sales office at Havelock Corners.
Another
important factor in volume of sales and inventory is that only 22 listings
expired in August, versus 40 last year, and 57 in August of 2014. Inventory is
low, so most homes seem to have an existing buyer.
In
price ranges, it is interesting to note that 31 houses sold in the 260,000 –
299,000 price bracket, versus just 13 in 2015. Further indicating an increase in
prices is the 400,000 – 499,000 price range which saw 19 sales in 2016 compared
to only 9 in 2015.
The
year-to-date numbers depict the same trends as 101 homes have sold in the 400 –
499 range this year as opposed to 60 in the first 8 months of 2015. The big picture
will note that 384 transactions over $300,000 have been reported versus 248 in
2015. It doesn’t take a calculator to realize that the average price of a home
in this community – and most communities in southern Ontario is more than 12%. One
more number to consider is the fact that in 2010 (just 6 years ago), there were
123 sales in the first 8 months of the year higher than $300,000.
THINK
OF ME
The
reason I post these updated stats is that when your time arrives to possibly
sell your home, I’m the Realtor to call as I report the news. The WIDREB office
compiles the stats, but whether the news is good for sellers or buyers is
rarely reported by many Realtors, including (most importantly), interpreting the
numbers.
Kitchener-Waterloo
The
K-W Region continues to be a hot area in real estate sales results as August
totals were 598 – the highest for that month ever. For the first two-thirds of
the year, numbers are 4,703 which is more than 23% higher than the five-year
average.
The
K-W Association Of Realtors press release was announced in a story in the
Waterloo Region Record, which includes a link below.
"We
saw strong residential activity this summer season and with record setting
year-to-date sales it's clear that buyers remain confident about the value of
homes in Kitchener-Waterloo," Charlotte Zawada, the association's
president, said Wednesday in the release. Zawada is a Re/Max Twin City rep.
"It
wasn't just temperatures heating up in August. We're still experiencing tight
market conditions in terms of available homes for sale and this continues to
push home prices in the region upward."
However,
inventory is low as listing numbers are down more than 45% over 12 months ago.
The
Woodstock-Ingersoll area is affordable compared to east of here along the 401.
The average sale price last month was $402,000, up 15.2 per cent from $348,879
in August 2015.
Charlotte Zawada
London
– St. Thomas
The
best August ever is a good way to summarize the month in the London area.
LSTARS’s
press release is linked below if you want to verify the numbers, but even
though inventory was down about 29% when you mirror back to August of 2015,
total reported transactions were 999, including 804 detached homes.
St.
Thomas continues to be more affordable than London and also more affordable
than Woodstock (for that matter), with an average price of $225,317 (3.9%
increase since Jan. 1).
The average
for the entire LSTAR region is $277,660.
The London
average price is $283,454.
The
LSTAR board actually provides a monthly 28-page report which breaks down increases
and decreases in just about every facet through its geographical area –
listings totals, 2-storey versus condominium, price ranges, and trends from one
month to another and then an overview of the past 12 months. In a sport like
baseball, numbers are over analyzed and I believe stats are the tale of the
tape and certainly tell the story, but sometimes too much is simply too much.
Sarnia
– Lambton
The
news is not great everywhere in southern Ontario as a story in the Sarnia
Observer used the word ‘slump’ when describing that market for August. The good
news for buyers is there was a big increase in new listings as August saw 324
new listings, while the new inventory for August in 2015 was only 237.
As
the optimist, I would say that maybe the new listings last month will translate
into more sales in September.
As
it stands, the August just completed included 176 transactions.
Brantford
Area
The
BRREA report for August said 221 homes sold, which was an increase of 3.8% over
last August.
Brantford
Regional Real Estate Association’s press release noted that the first 8 months
of 2016 are 2.6% ahead of 2015.
Don
Lea – president of the board – said that the record sales for August also
marked the third month of 2016 which has set a new record, but overall available
listing numbers set an all-time low at the end of August.
The first
8 months of the year for BRREA are the highest ever. BRREA region includes
Paris, St George, Burford, Mt Pleasant, Oakland, Scotland and the accompanying rural
areas.
Woodstock
is certainly more affordable than Brantford as that board’s average sale price
is now up to $333,365 – up more than 14% from 12 months earlier.
LINKS:
Mark Schadenberg, Sales
Representative
Senior Real Estate Specialist
(SRES designation)
Royal LePage Triland Realty
Independently Owned & Operated, Brokerage
757 Dundas St, Woodstock
(519) 537-1553, cell or text
Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter: markroyallepage
Facebook: Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland
Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . .
Destination
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