Royal LePage Sales Strong in May

After showing renewed strength in April with total MLS® sales of $43.0 million, area real estate sales softened slightly in May with MLS® sales for the month of $42.3 million. Monthly-to-date sales volume during May 2009 sales was 18% below last year. Unit sales during May totaled 168, down from the 192 sales in May of last year, a decrease of 12%.
Year-to-date sales as reported through the MLS® system of the Georgian Triangle Real Estate Board total $140.6 million compared to $203.6 million sold in the first 5 months of 2008, a decrease of 31%. Unit sales for the year stand at 565 as compared to the 772 properties which sold in the same period last year a decrease of 27%. Sales at the upper-end of the market continue to languish in 2009 as unit sales above $500K for the year total 35 units as compared to 55 for the first 5 months of 2008, a decrease of 36%.
Throughout the various municipalities that make up the Georgian Triangle Real Estate Board, market conditions in Collingwood continue to show the greatest strength with year-to-date sales down by just 11.3% while the average Collingwood residential price has actually increased by 1.2% to $257,704. The municipalities of Meaford and Grey Highlands are showing the greatest decreases in residential sales activity with year-to-date unit sales in those two municipalities down in excess of 45%. Year-to-date sales in other area municipalities are as follows: Clearview -35.2%, Wasaga Beach -35.2% and the Blue Mountains -21.4%. Overall the average residential price for our entire area has decreased by just 2.9% to $277,422. This decline in the average residential price is largely the result of the aforementioned decrease in sales activity above $500K.
At Royal LePage, sales through our Collingwood office in May were very strong. Of particular note was that fact that our sales in May represented a good cross-section of properties across all price ranges. I was pleased to have sold 3 condominiums in May along with a single family home in the Blue Mountains at $748K. I remain very bullish about our market and I anticipate we will continue to see a strengthening of market conditions throughout the balance of 2009.