NEWS RELEASE
BARRIE AND DISTRICT ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
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The December 2018 sales information is in, and residential property sales recorded through the MatrixTM System for the Barrie and District Association of REALTORS® Inc. (BDAR) region showed a decline in the number of sales and in the average price of units sold in Simcoe County when compared to December 2017.
However, the average price of units sold in Barrie is on the rise when compared to last year and to last month.
“2018 was an interesting year in the housing market – we had new mortgage rules come into play and saw a market that was balancing over the year,” said Tanai Artenosi, 2019 BDAR President. “Buyers and sellers both benefit from using a local, professional Realtor® with their real estate transactions to get the most out of our current market.”
December 2018 Month Over Month Review – All Residential Homes
Simcoe County: On a month‐over‐month basis, Simcoe County has seen a 1 per cent boost in average price of units sold. The average price went from $476,722 in November to $481,367 in December. Given the lower number of sales in December and therefore a less representative sample, this average price change is more reflective of stable prices.
City of Barrie: Within the City of Barrie, the average price of units sold was up 2.4 per cent from $453,421 in November 2018 to $464,193 in December 2018. Units sold in Barrie total 103 for the month of December 2018 as compared to 167 in November 2018.
Simcoe County Excluding Barrie: Outside of Barrie, the average price went from $502,155 in November 2018 to $487,016 in December 2018. Again, with a lower sample of sales in December and a large uncertainty between the low end of the price range and the high‐end of the price range, this average increase is more reflective of a higher number of high‐priced property sales in December, rather than a trend toward increasing prices.
Sales activity in December 2018 for the region was down 13.9 per cent from December 2017, which was weighted heavily by a 22 per cent decline in demand for houses in Barrie.
All Residential Homes in the Year 2018 vs 2017
Simcoe County: In Simcoe County, December 2018 Year to Date (YTD) (January 1st, 2018 – December 31st, 2018), the number of sales saw a 13.8 per cent decline as compared to December 2017 YTD, (January 1st, 2017 – December 31st, 2017). Totalling 4275 units sold for December 2018 YTD for Simcoe County, compared to 4960 units sold for December 2017 YTD. The average price of units sold in the year 2018 was $499,233, and this is 3.9 per cent less than the average price for the year 2017.
City of Barrie: Sales for the year 2018 in the City of Barrie totalled 2,108 units sold. This was 20.4 per cent less than the number of units sold in 2017. The average price over the last 12 months in Barrie was $485,815, which is 0.7 per cent greater than the average price during 2017. This is the greater than that of the average price for Simcoe County (‐3.9 per cent), which saw a decline of 3.9 per cent. Residential sales in Barrie in 2018 accounted for 49.3 per cent of sales in Simcoe County, and this is 4.1 share points less than what Barrie accounted for in 2017.
Simcoe County Excluding Barrie: The number of units sold in Simcoe excluding Barrie the year 2018 was 2167—6.3 per cent less than the number of sales in 2017. The average price of residential homes outside of Barrie in the year 2018 was $521,377, which is a 4.9 per cent decline from the average price of non‐Barrie residences in 2017.
This is a greater decline than that of total Simcoe County which saw a decline of 3.9 per cent. Residential sales outside of Barrie at this time accounted for 50.7 per cent of residential sales in the whole region. This is 4.1 share points more than Simcoe excluding Barrie’s share in 2017.
While the average price in Barrie showed a small increase from 2017 to 2018 there was a general decrease in prices for detached and semi‐detached units, that were more offset by stabilized townhouse prices and a notable increase in apartment prices.
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