Ten consecutive months of record dollar volume sales so far in 2010

With 10 consecutive months of dollar volume records, WinnipegREALTORS® is predicting a new benchmark will be set for the amount sales will bring in this year.
It’s possible dollar volume sales will reach $2.7 billion by the end of the year, setting a new record, according to a release from WinnipegREALTORS®.
As of the end of October, the year-to-date dollar volume total was $2.39 billion, while in 2009 the total was $2.17 billion during the same period.
October’s record-setting pace was helped by the sale of a home for $1.485 million. 
WinnipegREALTORS® cited the primary reason for the significant jump in dollar volume is price increases. Over the last 10 years, the residential-detached, or single-family, home average price has risen from $100,000 to $242,000, while the average sale price for condominiums over the same period has jumped even higher as a percentage to  $197,000 from only $79,000 in 2001.
October dollar volume was the highest on record for the month, rising six per cent to $214.2 million when compared to the same month in 2009, although sale totals were higher during October in the previous five years. Sales in October were down three per cent to 949 units when compared to October 2009, but year-to-date total sales matched last year’s pace.
“Relative to many other markets across the country,” said WinnipegREALTORS® president Claude Davis, “Winnipeg is holding its own, so we are viewing our sales activity as a glass half full.”
To put Winnipeg’s slight drop in sales into perspective, Davis said, Toronto sales declined 21 per cent, Calgary’s October sales decline was 35 per cent, Edmonton’s was 29 per cent and Vancounver’s sales fell 37 per cent in October.
“If there is a disappointment locally, it is with the lower end of the residential-detached housing market, where sales continue to show some appreciable declines over the year previous,” Davis added. “We believe that provincial land transfer tax relief would be helpful in addressing this development that has become more noticeable since 2009.”
 For residential-detached sales in October, the most active price range was between $150,000 and $199,999, which accounted for 25 per cent of the total. The category between $200,000 and $249,000 recorded 23 per cent of all sales.
A return to more balance in the housing market is indicated by an increase in the number of MLS® listings. The currency active inventory of listings is nearly 10 per cent higher than in 2009.