Area Sales Decline 28% in June.

Residential sales in the Georgian Triangle declined in June marking the 4th consecutive month in 2008 of decreased sales activity compared to the same period last year. Unit sales in June were 28% lower than in June 2007 while dollar revenue dropped 29% from $63 million in June 2007 to $45 million this past month. Listings in June increased by 11% and expired listings for the month increased by 22%.
Year-to-date sales of $248.5 million are now 7% below the first six months of 2007. Residential unit sales through the end of June total 952 versus 1,050 for the first half of 2007 a decrease of 98 properties sold or 9%. At the same time, listing activity has increased by 9% with 3,188 new properties coming onto the market in the first six months of the year. Expired listings have also increased as 1,086 listings have expired through the end of June a year-to-date increase of 10%.
At this mid-way point for the year, the Town of Collingwood is the only municipality in our area with a year-to-date increase in residential sales. Through the end of June, 136 MLS® residential sales have been reported in Collingwood compared to 134 in the first six months of 2007 reflecting a modest increase of 1.5%. Other municipalities in the area have seen residential sales decreases ranging from 7% to as high as 19%. The Summary of year-to- date residential sales by municipality is as follows:
Mulmur unchanged from 2007, Municipality of Meaford -7.1%, Clearview Township -8.2%, Tiny Township and Town of the BLue Mountains both down -14.3%, Wasaga Beach -15.6% and Grey Highlands -18.9%.
Unlike prior years which saw the upper end of the market driving sales activity, 2008 thus far has seen a decrease in residential sales across most pricing segments of the market above $350,000. A total of 159 MLS® residential sales above $350,000 have taken place in 2008 versus 171 in the first six months of 2007 a decrease of 7.0%. Eight sales over $1 million have taken place this year as compared to 11 in 2007 a decline of 27.3%. The 12 month average residential sale price is holding at $283,000 up slightly from $279,000 in June of 2007.
Residential sales activity is expected to remain constant for the remainder of 2008 with greater sales activity in the low to middle price segments of the market. The high number of active MLS® property listings has created a environment where buyers have plenty of choices and this will keep price increases to a minimum thus resulting in balanced market activity for 2008.