Collingwood / Georgian Triangle Market View - April 2009

With spring in full bloom, real estate activity across the Georgian Triangle Real Estate Board's trading area has finally started to rally with respect to the number of sales compared with activity experienced over the fall and winter seasons. Based on the monthly Performance Record published by the Georgian Triangle Real Estate Board the total number of sales recorded during the month of April was only 13% less than the number of sales recorded during the same month in 2008 with 161 trades taking place compared to 186. On a positive note, 50% more sales took place in April compared with the 109 sales that took place during March of this year. The increase in the number of sales when comparing April with February of this year is even more dramatic as there were only 78 sales recorded through the Board's MLS system during that month – 106% fewer than were recorded during the month of April of the same year. This is a clear indication that the increasing negative variance witnessed month after month when comparing the number of sales that took place at the end of 2007 with the end of 2008 and sales that took place at the beginning of 2008 with those that occurred at the beginning of 2009, is reversing.

The average price for residential sales recorded during the month of April increased 4.7% compared to the same month in 2008 from $278,063 to $291,237. Year to date, the average price for residential sales during the first 4 months of the year fell 4% from $285,054 to $273,449 compared with the average price recorded during the same time period for 2008. This is another indication that while the real estate market in the area has without a doubt been impacted by the economic turmoil experienced across the globe, the impact on prices has been moderate so far.

A total of 517 new listings were introduced to the Board's MLS system during the month of April compared with 625 during the month of April 2008. This represents a 17% decrease. There were 1872 listings available to buy year to date at the end of April compared to 1967 introduced to the Board's MLS system during the same four months in 2008 – only 5% less. As buyers gain confidence with respect to the economy and seek to take advantage of historically low interest rates and prices that reflect the reality of today's marketplace, sellers who perhaps were prepared to wait to put their property on the market might do well to reconsider.

While the statistics produced over the last two months are encouraging, it is important to maintain a sense of "cautious optimism" as the economic fallout of last October's market collapse continues. However, as was reported in last month's report, the key factors that produce a healthy real estate market – low interest rates, stabilizing equity markets - are in place and should continue to be moving into the next couple of months.

Prepared by: Justine Deluce, Vice President, Operations
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