Market News

Home, cottage and vacant land sales in the third quarter of 2006 were down compared to the same period in 2005 in the area served by the Muskoka & Haliburton Association of REALTORS®. By contrast, the number of active listings increased.

Fewer sales and higher listings caused the market for homes, cottages and vacant land to become more balanced in the third quarter of 2006 compared to the same period last year.

With markets becoming more balanced, median sale prices are stabilizing and year-over-year price increases are shrinking.

Overall MLS® sales activity in the third quarter of 2006 fell by 11.7 per cent compared to the second quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis (seasonal adjustment removes normal seasonal fluctuations). Actual (unadjusted) activity was down by 14.0 per cent compared to the third quarter of last year. 

The overall trend continues to point toward more balanced market conditions for homes, cottages and vacant land. Buyers are taking more time to shop before making purchase decisions.
 
Stronger activity in the first half of 2006 helped offset much of the decline in transactions in the third quarter. As a result, sales for the year-to-date in September stood just 2.4 per cent below levels recorded for the first nine months of 2005.

 

Unit sales
Category	Q3 2006	Q3 2005	Year-over-year percentage change
Residential	290	337	-13.9
Cottage	312	379	-17.7
Vacant land	57	85	-32.9

 

Median sale price ($)
Category	Q3 2006	Q3 2005	Year-over-year percentage change
Residential	170,000	163,000	4.3
Cottage	338,500	290,000	16.7
Vacant land	25,000	26,000	-3.8

 

Article Taken from Muskoka & Haliburton Association of REALTORS

Back