2017 Market Snapshot – Third Quarter

2017 Market Snapshot

For residential single family homes and condos, the WESTERN DISTRICT of Southern Georgian Bay slowed down from the over one year trend of a Sellers’ market copying what’s happening in the GTA. This is despite continuing near record lows in available inventory. Five years ago, we needed over 12 months to sell all listed inventory, Q3 2016 it was 2 months, but currently we are back up to 3 months. Values have fallen about 25% for residential transactions over Q3 2016 but still outpace values of 2015.

The average price for a home is currently $475,333, up from $373,000 a year ago. The majority of sales remained in the $400,000 to $500,000 price range but 2 sales went over $3M! While slower than the frenzy of early Spring, due to low inventory market value continues to be a moving target, and if Realtors & Buyers deem a property to be realistically priced, it will still sell quickly at close to, if not over, its asking price.
We continue to focus where we specialize – residential single-family homes and condos in the WESTERN DISTRICT of Southern Georgian Bay, in particular The Blue Mountains, Collingwood and the areas of Clearview near Collingwood and Blue.

Market Insights:

We saw the first interest rate hike in seven years in July and again in September
Ontario gov’t has created two new regulatory bodies for “consumer protection” in condo mgmt.
Construction sector has seen its largest gain in four years
The GTA is expected to grow by 2.9 Million people over the next 25 years
Municipalities are considering the conversion of golf course land to housing – the issue – reduction of green space vs housing needs
Canadians are richer than ever thanks to real estate values and the rising stock market
Jury is still out on whether the Foreign Buyers’ tax has adversely affected our area – and it applies to Simcoe County (Collingwood) but not Grey County (Blue Mountains)
Housing starts are expected to slow in 2018 by approximately 1%
Projected housing resales are expected to remain flat
Pricing in our area has stabilized to October 2016 pricing but that still represents a 19% increase over 2015

Highs,Lows & Specifics

COLLINGWOOD

The high sale of Q3 was a post and beam home in Mountain View Estates for $1,565,000. Worth noting are two waterfront sales hitting the $1,000,000 mark – one East end waterfront home and a Lighthouse Point waterfront condo
The low sale was a 1 bedroom condo in Cranberry for $173,600
Average price for a single family home is currently $504,251

THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

The high sale of Q3 was a 7,500 square foot stone chalet on Arrowhead Road at $3,350,000. Another sale worth noting was a post and beam country estate with almost 300 acres sold for $3,097,345 on 6th Line outside of Thornbury
The low sale was an oversized bachelor condo in the Grand Georgian at $122,000
Average price for a single family home is currently $803,647

CLEARVIEW

The high sale of Q3 was in Collingwoodlands – custom stone home on 2.8 acres with 7,500 square feet of finished space – $2,325,000
The low sale was a single family home in Nottawa at $260,500
Average price for a single family home is currently $548,955

NEW TO THE AREA

New Mexican restaurant – Camino – opening soon in the Village at Blue
New Indian cuisine – Coriander Kitchen Take Out – in the Rogers Plaza
The Potato Factory – new casual dining restaurant on Hurontario beside Beckers Shoes
Stonebrook Developments is introducing MONACO condominiums – a new development plan for the corner of Hume and Hurontario Streets – contact us for more information on this project
Straw Hat Restoration is proposing a new housing project in the south end of Collingwood west of Hurontario. The concept is called a “Pocket Neighbourhood” – a small infill development with homes arranged around a commons – still subject to Town approval