2017 Real Estate Year in Review – Dissecting the Stats

Well, we are now fully into mid January and 2018 is in full swing.  Hopefully those of you that made new year’s resolutions have stuck to them so far ☺.  If one of your resolutions was to stay informed on the Windsor-Essex real estate market, then you have come to the right place!  Today, we are going to be reviewing the 2017 Windsor-Essex County Association of Realtors statistics.

Listings Year Over Year Fell 2%

Listings were slightly down from 2016, and many people already thought 2016 was a year of low inventory.  In 2017, we burned through even more inventory and there are less properties for buyers to go around as we start 2018.  One might’ve assumed the hot market would entice more people to list their properties but the stats don’t tell that story.

Units Sold Rose 2% Year Over Year

The total number of property transactions increased by 2% over a great 2016 year!  It's not a huge increase, but combining that with a decline in listings and inventory being eaten up, a 2% increase in units sales isn't enough to explain all the craziness of the 2017 market. That leads us to our next stat...

Average Sale Price Increased 17% Year Over Year

The average sale price in the area increased from from $225,906 to $264,750 during that period.  A banner year on a percentage basis and one of the best our local market has even seen.  Strong activity across the board and a healthy sellers market.  But when comparing the price increase to the listing and unit sales activity (with modest moves), the number seems a little out of whack.  Why is that?  To try to figure it out we’ll dive into the December monthly statistics.

In December 2017,  16.83% of sales were of Properties that Sold for $420,000+

When the board breaks down sales by price range, they have increments of $40,000-$60,000.  Starting at $0-$60,000, $60,000-$99,999, etc, up to $420,000+ as the highest range, the highest range had the second highest sales activity next to only $140,000-$179,999 (17.16%).  Basically, we’ve been selling way more high priced properties!  I think a lot of this can be contributed to the booming year in new construction and for detached homes, with $420,000+ at the low end of that price range.  The next point will help us further illustrate and hopefully drive the message home.

In December 2017, Average sale price increased 36% Year Over Year!

Wow, now that is pretty amazing.  Prices in those 30 days went from an average of $220,053 in 2016, all the way to $300,314 in 2017.  The first time we ever remember seeing an average price with a 3 handle!  Not that long ago our average prices still had a 1 handle!  In this 30 day period the main contributor to the huge spike in average prices was the healthy activity in the higher priced properties.

There is our brief but hopefully helpful review of the 2017 market statistics.  If there are any topics you’d like to read about in 2018, drop us a line and we’d be happy to try and incorporate it into a future post.  Happy new year everyone!

2016 Local Real Estate Stats Examined

Last week we made a few general observations about our local real estate market from 2016.  This week we are going to dive a little deeper and look into some relevant statistics.  Note: Some of these statistics are based on the first 11 months of the year, as we still have a couple weeks left in December.  Also, these stats refer to our home market of Windsor, Ontario.

Units Sold Increased 10% Year Over Year

The headline is pretty self explanatory.  The number of units (houses) sold are on pace to top last year by 10%.  This is generally positive as more transactions are taking place so the market is more active.  Obviously this is a great thing for sellers.

Listings Increased 2% Year Over Year

Again a pretty straightforward headline.  The number of houses listed for sale are on track to increase by 2% compared to last year.  All other things being equal, this is positive for buyers as there is more inventory for sale and negative for sellers as there is more competition when selling your home.  When comparing the increase in listings with the increase in sales, sales have increased significantly more than listings, so one should expect to see an increase in prices during this period.

Average Sales Price Increased 13% Year Over Year

Good news for sellers!  Average Prices increased from $200,823 to $226,193.  After seeing sales up 10% and listings up only 2%, there was not enough supply to meet demand and there was upward pressure on prices.  Some of this gain can also be attributed to a higher share of high priced homes being sold this year compared to last year.  Obviously this is not so good for first time home buyers, or people who have been renting for the last year as it will be more expensive for them to find a home.

Housing Starts Increased 30% Year Over Year

This is great news all around.  Sales of new construction houses have really boomed this year.  This is also great for the local economy as the builders hire skilled trades which boosts local employment, the city or town expands its tax base, and additional services must be added (retail) to service this additional density and demography.  Hopefully this continues.

The Rental Vacancy Rate Decreased from 3.9% to 2.9% Year Over Year

This is another overwhelmingly positive statistic.  On a percentage basis this means there are 25.6% less vacant apartments in the area.  This continues the improving trend from 2009 when vacancy rates were 12%+.  Vacancy rate declines are generally indicative of economic growth and population growth (both province migration ie Alberta to Ontario, and immigration).  With an improving economy, robust sales activity and a tight rental market, it is clear people are moving to the area.  The area now seems ripe for new construction of rental units.

So after reviewing the stats it's clear to see that 2016 was a pretty healthy year for the real estate market.  Those are our takeaways from the stats.  What are yours?

*Sources WECAR & CMHC