It was another strong week in the market if you have an inexpensive house to sell. Sales volume is up again, up now by over 80% since the slowest week in the year which was in early January. That’s quite an increase in business! But, things are not quite as rosy for sellers of higher end homes. Although there were 14 sales in the last month over $1 million, there were far fewer sales than normal in the $700,000 to $1 million dollar range. If you have a home in that price range, you are going to have to work hard to offer exceptional value to attract a buyer.
The market for entry level homes, specifically below $500,000, is very robust and seems to be spurred on by the $10,000 tax refund for newly built homes to first time buyers, as well as by the certainty provided by the HST transition rules. I know that builders are breathing a sigh of relief!
The condo market also picked up nicely this spring, with volume up over 70% since the slowest week back in January. But, that increase in business has been slowing and may now have peaked. Prices, however, do remain stable.
One last very interesting item to point out is that the DOM (days on market) for both houses and condos is very short – about half of what we normally see. That doesn’t necessarily mean that all homes are selling twice as fast. Instead, when we look at the data, we see that it is the new listings that are selling. It seems that Realtors are doing a good job of advising their clients where to price their new listings, while existing listings are just sitting around, aging, and helping make the new listings look attractive!
Finally, if you are a regular reader, you will notice a new face added to our team picture. Our new team member is Tori Feldman, an extremely capable and experienced Realtor who we are very pleased to have join us!
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Over the last 30 days, 248 single family houses were sold, up by 10 houses from last week. The median price is down $7,500 to $542,500. The average house was on the market for 28 days.
In the same time period, 132 condos were sold, down by 8 condos from last week. The median price is down $1,250 to $275,000. The average condo was on the market for 45 days.
There are now 1,737 houses for sale, up by 28 from last week. Condo inventory has risen by 10 to 912 suites.
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