August 30th, 2019 Sales Summary:

Back to Work

Ok... that went by way too fast!  Summer is almost done, Labour Day is here and that means it’s time to buckle down and get back to work.  I do look forward to the changing of the seasons.  Yes, summer is too short around here and if mother nature looks favourably on us we’ll get more summer-like conditions through to the early days of October.  Good cycling and Fall Fair weather, two of my favourite things to do at this time of year.  

It’s also the time in our real estate market that we see increased activity and interest.  So, let's talk real estate!

It was a reasonable end to the week and the month of August.  

50 homes were reported sold in Guelph , Guelph-Eramosa and Puslinch townships this past week.  Three less than the same week in 2018.  Steady market conditions.  

The median home sold last week looked like the following: 

3 beds, 2 baths 1,532 square feet.  Interesting that this week last year the median house was only 1,256 sq. ft.  One of the reasons we use sales price per square foot is that it provides a more accurate number to relate back to sales prices. 

Median Numbers for the week ending August 30th, 2019:

House Size: 1,532 sqft

Sales Price:  $562,500

SP$/SQFT:  $366.36 

DOM: 19 days 

OLP/Sales Price: 98.73%

Median Numbers for this week last year:

House Size: 1,256 sqft

Sales Price: $465,000

SP$/SQFT: $348.77

DOM: 18 

OLP/Sales Price: 98.69%

As you can see, this year’s numbers are up 4.8% based upon $/sq.ft. and are in keeping with the overall sales price increase year to date.  

Our local real estate market continues to perform well and exceed expectations when compared to the major markets throughout the rest of the country.  We’re fortunate.  

The experts on Bay Street had predicted that we would see wholesale price reductions through 2019, of which the opposite has been true.  Even with market conditions “normalizing” and inventory levels finally building, demand has remained strong and prices in most categories have increased year over year.  The accompanying charts show inventory levels for Guelph and the townships as well as the urban areas in the region.

Inventory levels have been building throughout the region giving buyers more properties to look at and a little more time to look around before properties are selling.  Recalling January of 2017 when we had less than a month’s supply of available homes in every market and the numbers at the end of July 2019 as the charts above show illustrates just how much our markets have settled and “normalized”  While for the most part we are still in a seller’s market, conditions are much more centred and even than they were two years ago.  

What does this mean?  

We don’t expect a sudden increase in available homes for sale, which would negatively affect prices and at the same time we don’t expect a sudden surge of buyers to materialize, drive up competition for homes, and ultimately prices.  We do anticipate more of these conditions.  Higher end markets like those found in Puslinch will continue to drift down as inventory levels build.  Popular neighbourhoods will continue to out-perform the average and will still see strong demand.  

Economically our region continues to outperform the nation and I don’t expect that to change unless the world economy destabilizes significantly.  I think for the most part the economy has “priced” in the Trump effect and has carried on.  It will be interesting to see what the outcome of the federal election this year plays into our market.  All I can say at this point is stay tuned.  

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