The resale housing market across Canada has rebounded significantly in the second quarter of 2009 wherein sales exceeded those reported during the same three months of 2008. When uncertainties about both our domestic as well as the global economy surfaced last year, many potential buyers which retreated to the sidelines are now back. As has historically been the case, soft market conditions typically create a pent-up demand which sooner or later comes back stronger than ever. Those waiting for the market to in fact bottom out will only know this has happened when prices start to increase so “timing” the market to maximize the greatest financial benefit whether selling or buying is next to impossible to gauge. Resale housing sales across Canada during the second quarter totaled over 147,000 properties, the fourth strongest quarter for sales ever reported. MLS® sales in the Georgian Triangle during the second quarter totaled 535 properties down 3.6% from the 555 units sold in the second quarter of 2008.
Several segments of the expensive, upper-end market have come back sharply in most markets across Canada which tends to skew both the national and local “average” residential prices. “Average price” is a term which the media focuses on relentlessly thus giving consumers misleading information with respect to overall pricing trends both up and down. Whether buying or selling, it is always best to contact a local REALTOR® that has access to MLS® data specifically for your market area and price range in order to correctly gauge what is truly happening with prices for a specific property location and type.
Nationally, MLS® home sales rose almost 18% in June, the local market showed similar gains posting a 16% increase in unit sales over June of 2008. The inventory of new resale home listings coming onto the market has continued to decline in recent months. Year-to-date the number of new residential MLS® listings throughout the Georgian Triangle has decreased 5%. The age old relationship of supply and demand has as a result, created a stable market in terms of pricing throughout our area. Over-priced properties simply do not generate interest and as a result do not sell. We continue to have a great number of these scenarios in the local market as is evidenced by the fact that the number of expired listings in the local MLS® system has risen 31% in the first six months of 2009 versus the same period in 2008.
Click on the link below to listen to a podcast by the chief economist of the Canadian Real Estate Association regarding resale housing market activity in the second quarter.
mms://wm.streamingmediahosting.com/canadianrealestate/klump_july_09.wmv
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