What A Difference A Year Makes

  One year ago, Collingwood and the surrounding area was under the influence of one of the most severe winters we had had in years.  Extreme cold and excessive amounts of snow made for great ski and snowboard conditions (provided you could get here) but it wrecked havoc with virtually every aspect of the local economy including real estate.  

  At the end of January 2014, MLS® real estate sales were down 27% to 28% both in terms of properties sold as well as dollar volume.  Fast forward to January 2015.  Despite the lackluster start to 2014,  the year ended with record sales and that has continued into 2015.  MLS® sales in January of $41.6 million represented a 61% increase in dollar volume compared to January 2014.  MLS® unit sales in January totaled 114 properties up from 82 sales in the 

same month last year, an increase of 39%.  

  

With the exception of Clearview, single family home sales in every other area municipality were up over January of last year.  Collingwood and Grey Highlands saw single family home sales up 50% in January.  Sales in Wasaga Beach were up 64% while the Blue Mountains experienced a modest 10% gain. The biggest surprise was the Municipality of Meaford which saw January sales almost triple that of one year ago.  One month does not make a year but we are  certainly off to a great start for 2015 and the same is holding true for many other markets across Canada.

  

Over the course of the past several months, we have experienced a significant reduction in housing inventory with some area and or price segments reflecting a shortage of product to meet the demand.  For the month of January, the number of new MLS listings was down 26% from January of 2014 with 363 properties coming to market versus 488 last year.  The number of expired listings is sharply reduced as well stemming from older listings selling, or in some cases, stubborn sellers are refusing to lower their asking prices to a level consistent with market value and they are simply taking their properties off the market.

 

 In my next post I will highlight what's selling the most in terms of property type and price range(s).