How Were Sales in Your Area Last Year?

Real estate sales activity throughout the various municipalities that make up the market area of the Georgian Triangle Real Estate Board offered up a mixed bag of results for 2010 with many showing continued improvement in sales following the downturn in activity we experienced in late 2008 early 2009. The Blue Mountains, Wasaga Beach however both posted a decrease in the number of residential properties sold during the year as compared to 2009. Unit sales in the Blue Mountains decreased the most, down 8.5% from the prior year with 151 sales as compared to 165 in 2009. Wasaga Beach had 357 sales a decline of 3.3%.


Residential sales in Tiny and Clearview Townships were essentially unchanged in 2010 whereas the municipalities of Collingwood (up 6.9%), Grey Highlands (up 38.0%), Meaford (up5.4%) all showed increased sales activity.

Some significant shifts took place with respect to average pricing in these areas but this should not be construed as being an appreciation in property values. As mentioned in my prior posting, sales activity at the upper end of our market last year grew significantly with sales between $500,000 and $800,000 up 40.0%, sales between $800,000 and $1 million increased 33.3% and lastly sales above the $1 million threshold increased a whopping 86.7% with a total of 28 sales posted through the MLS® system of the Georgian Triangle Real Estate Board. The two areas reflecting the highest average residential prices were Mulmur Township with an average price of $543,140 while The Blue Mountains followed closely with an average residential price of $510,427. Residential sales in Mulmur Township are traditionally made up of acreage or estate type properties while The Blue Mountains is home to many of the area’s higher priced homes close to area ski and golf clubs.

The increased activity we experienced last year with upper-end “luxury” home sales helped to drive the average residential price for our market overall at the end of December to $314,937 from $286,378 one year earlier, an increase of 10.0%. The lowest average price for residential housing can be found in the Municipality of Meaford - $264,954, Wasaga Beach - $267,477 and in Collingwood - $275,895. Moving forward we will undoubtedly see continued growth in the sales of higher priced homes, driven by the influx of buyers from the GTA purchasing these properties for recreational and or retirement use. These higher end sales impact disproportionately both the overall sales revenue and the average residential pricing for our area leading one to believe that overly positive conditions exist when they in fact do not. Whether you are buying or selling, every property transaction deserves a detailed comparable analysis to ensure that the appropriate pricing is applied. For further information with respect to your real estate decision(s) please feel free to Contact me.  For a complete summary of area real estate activity 2009 versus 2010, see the latest issue of my Georgian Triangle Real Estate News.