Sunday, October 7, 2018

3rd Quarter 2018

We are now in a Buyer's market. The number of homes available for sale compared to last year is up 43% to 636. 76 of those are condo apartment listings.  Many Seller's are having to reduce their asking prices to achieve a sale. In concert with that, it is taking longer to sell homes and apartments as well as to lease them.  Also many homes and condo's are experiencing light showing traffic and the rental market is also quiet.

We saw a spike in detached 2-storey home sales volume by 25% along with the average selling price increasing to $1,505,000 u p 8% over the third quarter of 2017 and 6% over August 2018.  Bungalows didn't fair as well with their average selling price dropping 20% to $912,000. Volumes stayed the same at 20 sales. This price drop is mainly due to builders focusing on smaller/cheaper lots in West Oakville as there are less of them available in Southeast Oakville.  Similarly, condo apartment average selling price dropped 13% to $550,000. Their volumes however almost doubled to 63 sales from 33 in 2017. That's quite a jump and is expected as more and more seniors downsize and look for alternative housing.

Financing is still attractive but heading in the wrong direction especially for first time buyers. Interest rates are expected to rise again this month.

Last year 266 homes and condo's sold for more than $1,000,000.  This year only 122 have changed hands. Surprisingly, we have seen a 23% increase in sales volume activity for the ultra luxury market sector, homes selling above $3,000,000.