Barrie and District home sales smash previous annual record in 2016
December’s CREA results show that this year has been one of the strongest years on record for real estate demands in the Barrie region. The market has proven to be very profitable for sellers in the Barrie area, and we will continue to see a high demand for homes in the coming months with low inventory levels. Read below for more on the Barrie and District DecemberResults from CREA.
Residential property sales recorded through the MLS® System of the Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® Inc. numbered 222 units in December 2016, a decline of 6.7 per cent from December 2015.
Within the City of Barrie, sales activity declined 15.4 per cent on a year-over-year basis. The City of Barrie saw 132 residential sales in December. A year-over-year increase of 7.3 per cent was recorded in surrounding areas, where sales activity totalled 103 units.
For the district as a whole, annual sales totalled 6,032 units in 2016. This was up 15 per cent from 2015.
“It’s been known for a while that activity would set a record in 2016, but the question is if sales can keep this up with the number of homes listed for sale decreasing,” said Rob Alexander, 2017 President of the Barrie & District Association of REALTORS®. “December provided what might be the first evidence that supply is starting to bite into sales, particularly with the year-over-year decline in transactions completely focussed in the City of Barrie, where there was a record low of just 84 properties listed for sale to begin 2017. This is why it’s important to talk to a local professional REALTOR® when buying or selling.”
The annual average price for all homes sold via the Association’s MLS® System was $438,828, up 17.6 per cent from 2015.
The annual average price figure for homes sold within the City of Barrie was $413,177. This was an increase of 19.2 per cent compared to the average selling price in 2015.
The annual average price figure for the surrounding areas in 2016 was $468,671, an increase of 14.6 per cent from the average selling price in 2015.
The Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® cautions that over a period of time, the use of average price information can be useful in establishing trends, but it does not indicate actual prices in widely divergent areas or account for price differentials between geographical areas.
The dollar value of all home sales in December 2016 was $108.1 million, rising 25.3 per cent from year-ago levels. This was a record for the month and marked the first December to reach more than $100 million.
New residential listings fell 13 per cent from December 2015 to 215 units in December 2016.
Overall supply is currently trending at the lowest levels on record. Active residential listings on the Association’s MLS® System numbered 415 units at the end of December 2016, down 37.9 per cent from year-ago levels. This was the first month ever where active listings fell below 500.
There were just 1.9 months of inventory at the end of December 2016, down from 2.8 months a year earlier. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.
Sales of all property types in the Barrie region numbered 240 units in December, down 5.9 per cent compared to December 2015. The total value of all properties sold in December 2016 was $120.8 million, up 26.5 per cent on a year-over-year basis.
Important Information
The average price information quoted can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighbourhoods, or account for price differentials between geographical areas.
The Barrie and District Association of REALTORS® Inc. covers a geographical area that includes the City of Barrie and part or all of the surrounding townships, including Springwater, Oro-Medonte, Innisfil, Essa, Bradford-West Gwillimbury and Clearview. The Association provides continuing education, Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®), statistical information, and many other services to its members.
This article brought to you by the Canadian Real Estate Association http://creastats.crea.ca/