Five home sales of over $1 million each, helped propel May’s dollar volume level over $400 million, which is the first time in the 109-year history WinnipegREALTORS® that such a high total for a single month has been reached.
The most expensive of the group was a 3,200-square-foot home in Assiniboine Landing in South Headingley that sold for $1.2 million.
“You only have to go back 10 years to a time when we considered $100-million monthly sales to be a good result, and that only happened in three of 12 months,” said Shirley Przybyl, the president of WinnipegREALTORS®.
“A new monthly milestone of over $400 million in MLS® sales shows just how much our market has evolved.
“While more of the change has to do with price increases than a spike in sales,” she added, “it does indictate that the Winnipeg market in 2012 is dramatically different from the market 10 years ago. The numbers continue to impress even some of the most optimistic Winnipeg boosters.”
There were 1,600 MLS® sales last month, making it the second best May since 2007, when there were 1,652 sales. Despite the high level of sales, dollar volume in May 2007 was less than $300 million.
The May sales total was an increase of 10 per cent from the 1,463 units sold during the same month last year, while dollar sales climbed by 17 per cent to $411.5 million.
Year-to-date sales are five per cent of last year’s pace with 5,434 units sold during the first five months of 2012, while dollar volume sales during the same period rose this year by 12 per cent to $1.33 billion when compared to 2011.
“Not surprisingly,” said Przybyl, “given the strength of the MLS® market in May, there were more homes that sold for above list price than below list price.”
But Przybyl cautioned that despite the success in May, it is important to stress that all properties within the local real estate market do not necessarily perform at the same. Some neighbourhoods and areas perform better than others, she added.
“For example, condo sales were more in line with last May’s sales, while resort property sales were actually down from the same month last year,” Przybyl explained.
“In sharp contrast, duplex and single-attached sales were dramatically higher in sales activity, while residential-detached home sales and vacant land sales showed decent increases.
“When examining residential-detached home sales,” she continued, “a number of desirable Winnipeg MLS® neighbourhoods are seeing far higher conversion of listings to sales and fewer days on the market than many rural municipalities.
“Our monthly MLS® market releases do give you a reasonable barometer of what is happening in the housing market overall,” Przybyl added, “however, for a particular property type you want to sell or are interested in buying, you should be calling a REALTOR®, who has the expertise to advise you on market conditions to enable you to make an informed decision.”
Despite the high-end sales in May, Peter Squire, the market analyst for WinnipegREALTORS®, said there are still a number of affordable homes available in one of the most affordable housing markets in Canada.