This January we had 85 sales in the Oakville market which took an average of 80 days to sell. This is down almost 60% from the 196 sales in January 2008 yet up slightly from December 2008 78 sales. Normally most homes sell in 50 days or less.
The City of Toronto's numbers are slightly better but still not pretty with a sales volume decline of 49% for January year over year.
Oakville's January's average sale price was $468,000 compared to $562,000 a year earlier. The majority of the sales were for homes below $400,000 reflecting a number of first time buyers entering the market and taking advantage of the low interest rates and recent price adjustments.
Two years ago in January 2007, 224 homes sold at an average sale price of $429,000.
2007 was a record year and this January's average sales price was 9% higher.
At the moment the energy in the market place is surprisingly very positive with more showing traffic as well there have been a number of multiple offer transactions. There are alot of buyers out there and the sense is they are ready to pounce. Will see just how many buyers decide to take the plunge this month. Last February there were 239 sales.
Interest rates are extremely attractive with a further reduction coming in in March. At the moment you can get 5 year money at 4.37% and variable rate money 3.75%. Should you buy now you can still take advantage of the next interest rate reduction as long as your closing date falls on or after the next change date.
It's a buyer's market! Don't hesitate to bid on desirable properties now. There are alot of homes to choose from and you never know what the seller will take.
