2018 Year-end Real Estate Market Snapshot

Our focus for this article will be on the 3 key trading areas and types of homes with which we have the most expertise – re-sales of residential condominiums and detached homes in Blue Mountains, Collingwood and the areas of Clearview nearest to Collingwood. Record low inventory in October to December slowed market sales to below year-ago levels. There were 2144 listings of which 1242 sold – a 73% sold to list ratio (compared to 86% in 2017), and Buyers will want to note that the greatest amount of listing choices was during the months of May through August.

The average resale price rose over 6% (vs 19% 2017) from $429,658 in 2017 to the current $453,903. We currently have 3.8 months of inventory (vs 3 months end of 2017). The majority of sales took place in the $300,000 to $600,000 price range, but the number of homes selling for over $1,000,000 fell short of the peak in 2017 of 187 to 90 in 2018.

MARKET INSIGHTS

We have read many articles from “experts” that are predicting the Real estate market trends for 2019 – we have endeavoured to consolidate this data and identify the points that will impact our local market.

Inventory of available properties is currently low but will grow slightly in 2019 but we will continue to see more Buyers than Sellers
Interest rates may reach 5% by year end
Average days on market will be somewhere between 45 – 90 days
According to the 2019 Royal LePage Market Survey Forecast, home prices are expected to appreciate at a low single-digit rate in 2019. The 2019 market owes its tepid pace to a host of uncertainties beyond the price overshooting of recent years. This includes slowly rising interest rates, global trade risks, the persistently low price of Canadian export oil, and regulatory intervention
Millennials and Seniors are competing for the same housing in our market – Seniors are downsizing and Millennials are planning early for their future retirement

HIGHS, LOWS & SPECIFICS

COLLINGWOOD

The high sale was a waterfront home on Princeton Shores for $2.23M – there were 16 additional sales over $1,000,000 of luxury homes and condominiums
The low sale was a bachelor apartment on Ontario Street for $156,900
There were 224 Condos sold compared to 416 in 2017 with Average Days on Market (DOM) of 41 vs 28 in 2017
There were 276 single family homes sold in 2018 compared to 407 in 2017 with DOM of 48 vs 33 in 2017

BLUE MOUNTAINS

The high sale was an over 7000 SF home on the Georgian Bay Golf Course for $3.4M – there were 2 other sales over $3M and an additional 7 homes between $2M and $3M
The low sales were all income units at Blue Mountain, 27 sold in 2018 for under $200,000
158 Condos were sold compared to 191 in 2017 with an average DOM of 86 vs 64 in 2017
Single Family homes reported total sales of 189 compared to 268 in 2017 with an average DOM of 90 vs 65 in 2017

CLEARVIEW (Nottawa and Nottawasaga Districts)

The high sale was a 91-acre estate just south of Nottawa for $2.745M. There were two other sales over $2M and five sales between $1M and $2M
The low sale was a 2 bedroom home in Nottawa for $185,000
44 Single Family homes were sold in 2018 compared to 53 in 2017 with average DOM of 93 vs 65 in 2017

WHAT’S NEW

Fabbrica – rustic Italian Fare – 27 Bruce Street, Thornbury (formerly Sisi’s) opened by celebrity chef Mark McEwan
The Posh Shoppe – new clothing store at 49 Hurontario
Collingwood Eggsmart – Every Tuesday is Senior’s Day – Full Breakfast for $4.99
The Curly Willow – Pine Street in Downtown Collingwood will be starting dinner service on Wednesday and Thursday evenings starting January 16th, 2019.