Thursday, 29 December 2016

NEWS: A new standard in WIDREB sales totals established (daily)

Statistics from 2005 topple as local real estate board surpasses 1,500 for first time

Great news for home sellers in Woodstock-Ingersoll area

By Mark Schadenberg
If you’ve read my reports on WIDREB sales numbers since last winter, you will think this contribution to the world of writing is a broken record, well to tell you the truth it is a broken record.
In 11 months of 2016, total sales in the Woodstock-Ingersoll district board area were 1,460, while the best ever year was 1,473 in 2005, which was the year Toyota announced it was building a manufacturing facility in Woodstock to accompany its successful plant in nearby Cambridge.
You can see from the year-end numbers posted below that 2016 has been a remarkable year as I calculate a total of 1,533 transactions as of now with another 73 compiled so far in December. Records were made to be broken, and in an odd year of low listings and low ‘days on market’ stats, our board has still managed to set a new standard.
It’s been a great year for sellers with the average price of a residential home of any style in the WIDREB zone selling for about $285,000. This converts into the fact that the average detached home in Woodstock itself now includes a market value of about $320,000. That average is not verified, but calculated when I look at a large sample of sales from the past months as a rise in prices of approximately 15% equates into the fact I can not (and will not) use comparable homes in deciphering an estimated market value for a home (including yours) which sold as recently as April or May. In other words, a house which sold for $250,000 in December of 2015 is now worth perhaps 288,000.
There is no reason to think that these new values will not sustain themselves, but any amateur statistician – once figuring in the tightening of mortgage rules – will safely announce that a much more modest increase in sales prices is on the horizon for the next 12 – 18 months.


The increase in home values is great news for sellers, but obviously not first-time buyers or someone selling a modest residence and hoping to move up to their dream home.
In November, for example, transactions totalled 121 and that was the highest in any year looking back to the 2005 benchmark calendar, especially when you consider November of 2008 saw only 55 sales.
If 2008 was a frustrating time to be a Realtor because sales were infrequent, let me be the first to tell you 2016 has been head-scratching as clients with good offers on homes are losing out in multiple offer settings to signed offers higher than full asking price, and often the asking price appears on the surface to already be inflated (in my opinion).


MORE HISTORY NUMBERS
Our market is still currently extremely low on active listings as you will note from my previous blog entries, and the fact WIDREB stats point out in ink that the total number of listings in the first 11 months of 2016 is 1,880. Compare that to 2014 (1,943), 2011 (2,118), 2008 (2,631), and 2007 (2,365). I haven’t included every year, but the trend is prevalent.
Here’s another important trend: In 2016, there has been only 300 expired listings in the first 11 months, versus 487 in 2015 and 605 in 2014. Get this: In 2009 there were 1,035 expired listings in the first 11 months of the calendar. As you can see, a listing can not expire if it sells.
Total sales in the first 11 months of 2016 are 1,460 versus 1,342 last year and only 1,122 in 2014.
Here are the November-only WIDREB totals:
2016: 121
2015: 110
2014: 64                                  2013: 74                                  2012: 70                                  2011: 94
2010: 84                                  2009: 87                                  2008: 55 (Correct)                  2007: 103
2006: 104                                2005: 92
November of 2016 tips the scales very much in favour of those selling homes as record numbers are reported in transactions despite the low inventory of available listings for a buyer to consider. 
By looking at the totals, keep in mind 2015 was considered a good year.
Year-By-Year Numbers (Totals in WIDREB)
2015: 1424
2014: 1180                           2013: 1252                            2012: 1066               2011: 1158               
2010: 1216                            2009: 1080                            2008: 1176                            2007: 1359               
2006: 1278                            2005: 1473 (Correct) 
Average for past 10 years: 1242
An on-going positive factor in residential sales is extremely attractive low interest rates. Tighter mortgage rules which force buyers to always qualify based on a 5-year fixed rate has seemingly had little effect immediately on the Woodstock-area market. Buyers continue to stream to Oxford from Kitchener-Waterloo and Cambridge markets. Those areas have become difficult to buy in as their average sales numbers and prices leap as consumers re-locate from the Greater Toronto Area.  


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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

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