Was it the home on Churchill Drive that sold for around $139,000? Or, the one on Georgetown Drive that sold for about $340,000? Maybe, it was the house on Magnus Avenue that sold for a mere $18,500?
The only thing known for sure is that one of the 16 homes that sold on September 14 pushed the Winnipeg Real Estate Board’s Multiple Listing Service® over $1 billion in dollar volume sales — the earliest this level has been reached in the 101-year history of the board.
“If you had asked me at the start of the year, I wouldn’t have predicted that we would reach that mark so early,” said WREB president Cliff King. “It’s amazing.”
King said 2004 started out with a scarcity of listings and continued that way throughout much of the year, which made him believe there simply wasn’t enough properties available on the market to push MLS® dollar volume sales past $1 billion so quickly.
The $1-billion mark in MLS® sales was first reached in 2002, and that didn’t
happen until the end of the year.
In 2003, the $1-billion level wasn’t reached until well into October.
“The high volume of MLS® has been driven by a number of people bidding against each other on individual listings,” explained King. “This is the single most
significant factor in pushing MLS® dollar volume sales upward.
“This intense competition has driven up house values, resulting in higher dollar
volume sales.”
He said other factors contributing to a robust housing market are a strong economy, low unemployment and low interest rates, “as well as a fair number of first-time buyers entering the market.
“A series of record-breaking sales in past months allowed the board to reach such a high level of dollar volume sales,” said King.
“For example, August recorded a 28 per cent increase in MLS® sales when compared to the same month last year.”
King said it is encouraging that new listings are again increasing to meet the brisk market demand that has been fuelling higher MLS® sale prices.