Upper Tier Luxury Home and Condo Sales Increase 54% in 2016

  The sale of upper tier homes and condominiums in the southern Georgian Bay area continues to be an increasingly significant segment of the local real estate market.  MLS® sales in this niche were up 54% in 2016 having a profound effect on total MLS® dollar sales.  For the purpose of defining luxury or upper end real estate, we consider anything priced over $750,000 as properties in this value range represent approximately the top 10% of the local market.

  A total of 162 sales were reported over $750,000 during 2016 on the MLS® system of the Southern Georgian Bay Association of REALTORS (SGBAR).   Total dollar sales in this segment were $187.4 million which represents 18% of all MLS® sales in the region for 2016.   It is important to note that this does not include any private sales, or sales made directly by builders and others that did not go through the MLS® system.

The Blue Mountains continues to lead other area municipalities by almost 50% with respect to the number of annual upper end home and condominium sales.  A total of 60 properties sold in the Blue Mountains last year with prices ranging from $751,000 for a property in Thornbury to a $3.945 million waterfront estate near Georgian Peaks. MLS® residential sales in the Blue Mountains for these 60 properties totalled just under $76 million which is 37% of the total region's upper end market during 2016 both in terms of units sold and dollar volume.  Buyers for these properties are often members of the area's private ski and golf clubs and these Buyers have a strong desire to be close to their respective clubs in developments such as Nipissing Ridge, Lora Bay, Windrose Estates and others.  The Blue Mountains is also home to some of the area's finest waterfront properties.

  Not so many years ago, it was hard to find a house priced above $750,000 in Collingwood.  In 2009 I sold a non-listed home for $1.1 million.  That same year there was only one MLS® sale in Collingwood of a residential property over $750,000.  Times have changed as in 2016 there were 31 sales in the municipality placing Collingwood in the number two position in terms of unit MLS® sales for high end properties in the region.  Sales prices ranged from $749,000 for a new home at the south end of Town to $2.33 million for a waterfront home in Princeton Shores.  These 31 MLS® sales totalled $29.8 million and amounted to 19% of the region's upper end market.  Of the seven municipalities covered in my analysis, Collingwood ranks 5th in average price for upper end homes sales with an average selling price for 2016 of $960,000.

  During 2016, Clearview Township came in third in terms of the number of MLS® listings sold with 29 residential sales ranging from $760,000 to $2.9 million.  Many of these sales were properties with larger acreages and highly sought after views of the surrounding countryside and or Georgian Bay.  Although Clearview Township trails the Blue Mountains by over 50% in terms of the number of high end properties sold, Clearview is home to the highest average sale price in the upper tier market segment at $1.328 million which is primarily due to the larger property sizes associated with these homes.

  The remaining municipalities of Grey Highlands, Meaford, Mulmur and Wasaga Beach each have their own share of higher priced residential properties and combined they accounted for a total of 42 MLS® sales in 2016, 26% of the overall market with a combined sales value of $42.3 million.  These areas continue to grow in stature in terms of being desirable locations for more expensive residential properties and this trend will no doubt continue. For the foreseeable future however they will continue to play a smaller, less significant role in the rapidly growing demand for higher end homes and condominiums than we are experiencing in areas like the Blue Mountains and Collingwood stemming from vast array of recreational, cultural and other amenities that these municipalities offer.

  As of this posting there are 134 active listings on the MLS® system of SGBAR which represents almost 10 months of available inventory based on the current annual rate of sales.  Sales in this segment of the market naturally take longer, require added marketing emphasis and can not be treated the same as the sale of a run-of-the mill property typically found in  large subdivisions.  More on this in future posts.

 If you are looking to list your current high end luxury home/condo or are contemplating the purchase of a special property, please feel free to Contact Me for a confidential discussion of your particular real estate needs and objectives and put my expertise to work for you.