It is no secret that it has been a slow start to the traditionally busy spring buying & selling season. Prices are behind last years levels and the number of homes selling has been down by about 25%.
But, that was old news and things are changing rapidly now. The change appears to be in the right direction finally! For the last several weeks, the anecdotal evidence is that Realtors have been feeling busier. Not necessarily with sales, but with the activity that leads to sales. Now, that work is starting to show in the results.
The volume of sales for single family homes is still below this point last year, but the gap is narrowing. Prices have also been climbing now for the fifth week in a row! Yes, prices are still down 3% from last year, but that is a big improvement from the 6-7% gap that we saw a few weeks ago. Do I think that prices are going to move ahead of last year? That's possible but not likely. However, the good news is that there in an increasing chance that a well priced home will sell.
The condo market is doing even better than the detached house market. It's rare that I can make that statement! But, it is true. At the start of the year, the condo market was in very poor shape with the volume of sales off 34% and prices down 11% from last year. But, today the volume is only off 9% and prices are even! There has been a real surge in condo pricing in the last few weeks! We even saw the inventory of available condos drop this week, which almost never happens in the spring. It appears that first time buyers are choosing to buy a condo instead of a new detached house. Considering that their purchasing power was reduced last summer when the mortgage rules where changed, this does make sense.
Overall, the message is that if you are considering a move this spring, now is DEFINITELY the time to get your property on the market. Enlist the help of a knowledgeable professional Realtor - members of our team hopefully - and list your home at the right price with a solid marketing plan behind it.
Here are the current stats:
Over the last 30 days, 202 single family houses were sold, up by 26 houses from last week. The median price is up $10,194 to $523,944. The average house was on the market for 34 days. In the same time period, 120 condos were sold, up by 8 condos from last week. The median price is up $18,500 to $274,500. The average condo was on the market for 63 days.
There are now 1,831 houses for sale, up by 4 from last week. Condo inventory has fallen by 19 to 892 suites.
Do you have any real estate questions? feel free to email us or post them on our Facebook page and we would be happy to answer them for you.
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