Third Quarter 2011 Real Estate Market Recap for Collingwood – Blue Mountain and Area

Here is a look at the first nine months of the 2011 real estate market in the Georgian Triangle which encompasses several communities including the six key areas of Collingwood, Blue Mountain, Wasaga Beach, Meaford, Clearview and Grey Highlands.

In the month of September, there were 178 sales including 146 residential sales (single family homes, condominiums, manufactured homes), 6 farms, 22 parcels of vacant land and 4 commercial sales. The majority of residential sales activity was concentrated in the $150,000 to $300,000 price ranges.

Key Points for complete Georgian Triangle Market:

–           There is a strong supply of listing inventory with 2501 properties currently listed for sale in our area.  There were 651 new listings in September.

–           Sales have been relatively stable but not robust. There have been 892 single family home sales YTD compared to 935 at this point last year; 251 condo sales versus 246 a year ago, 97 vacant land sales compared to 117 by the end of September, 2010.  While sales are down from 2010, last year included sales created by pent-up demand from the ’09 “recession.”

–           Upper tier sales (anything over 500,000 is generally in the top 10% of the local market place) continue to be strong following the trend that began last year with 24 sales over the million dollar mark so far this year – on par with 2010. This suggests continued interest in our local market from high net-worth individuals who are benefitting from substantial equity gains and, are in many cases approaching retirement.

Key Points for the 6 main areas, residential sales only:

– Generally speaking, it is a buyer’s market in most areas of the Georgian Triangle with the exception being the Town of Collingwood where more balanced market conditions currently exist. The residential, sales to listing ratio is lowest in Blue Mountain at 25%. Meaford, which was slow earlier in the year, showed some solid activity in the last month.

–           With the exception of Clearview Township, the 12 month average residential sale price is up in all of the key and most notably in Collingwood and Blue Mountain. This figure represents an average sale price – not a median therefore, the numbers are higher due to the increase in upper tier sales in those two markets.

–           Over-all, average residential prices are up over last year.  Currently, the 12 month average single family, residential sale price in the 6 key areas is up approximately 2.8% over last year.

–           Approximately 20% of all residential sales in the area have been condominiums. Looking at Collingwood and Blue Mountain areas only, 40% of all residential sales YTD were condominiums.