The Winnipeg Real Estate Board would gladly welcome back the Junos every spring as a great accompaniment to the local MLS® market.
After the music started during the highly-successful national gala event, the real estate market was poised for its own crescendo. By the end of April, MLS® dollar volume went platinum and sales were not too far behind.
With 1,157 sales, the dollar volume was the highest ever monthly result recorded at over $156 million. In June last year, the board had over $156 million in dollar volume activity but that was based on over 1,300 MLS® sales.
Compared to last year, April 2005 sales were ahead by two per cent while dollar volume was up an astounding 25 per cent. Many desirable properties realized multiple offers and that translated into 45 per cent of all residential-detached homes selling for above list price. Another 12 per cent of single-family homes sold at list price. For the first four months of the year, half of all homes sold at or above list price.
One example of the brisk sellers’ market is a sale in old St. Vital of a three-bedroom 1,100-square-foot, one-and-a-half storey home on a regular 50-by-100 lot. This modest-sized home with all sorts of upgrades showed extremely well and attracted 19 offers. It ended up selling for $165,000, which was $35,000 above list price.
New listings in April, despite being up 12 per cent over the same month last year, could not derail the price appreciation train which continues to chug along.
Part and parcel of this accelerated market is quick sales. The average days on market for residential-detached properties in April was only 19 days.
Condominiums sold at an even faster rate with the average days on market sitting at 17.
The quick turnover is keeping inventory low, however, the good news going into May is that active listings are up 22 per cent over the same time last year.
The most expensive property to sell in April was a home in Tuxedo which sold for $975,000. Another 36 homes sold for over $300,000 with the $200,000 and above sales representing 18 per cent of total residential-detached sales.
The most active price range was from $130,000 to $159,999, representing 23 per cent of total sales. Only 15 per cent of all home sales were below $70,000, a far cry from a few years ago when they made up 25 per cent of the total market.
Another indication of how the MLS® market has shot up are the statistics on active listings. By far, the highest days on market for existing listings yet to sell are in the $0 to $50,000 price range. They have been on the market twice as long as the most active price ranges.
Year-to-date activity is showing sales equalling last year but dollar volume is continuing to take it up another notch — in music terminology a few more decibels. Dollar volume will easily eclipse $500,000 next month and that is a record-setting pace.
The spread between sales increases and dollar volume increases after four months is 15 per cent. It makes 2005 the third year in a row where MLS® prices have been on a double-digit trajectory.
In a more specific MLS® area market analysis, a number of chords were struck. Average days to sell for a number of Winnipeg neighbourhoods in April were in the single digits.
Some of these same MLS® areas had sales-to-listings ratios at, or above 100 per cent because sales equalled the number of listings that came onto the market that month. Essentially, whatever was on the MLS® shelf in these areas got scooped up.
In terms of average residential-detached sale prices, Linden Woods had an average of $290,000 based on 20 sales and Tuxedo, boosted by the one sale just shy of $1 million, had an average sale price of $354,000. East St. Paul had its highest monthly average sale price ever at $379,000. Whyte Ridge has come up significantly too, with an average sale price of $240,000.
While only based on two sales, Headingley South had the board’s highest monthly MLS® area average residential-detached sale price on record at $670,000.
At the other end of the spectrum, the average sale price in the heart of
the North End was $42,000 with the next lowest being Weston and the southeastern part of Manitoba (Steinbach excluded) at $53,000. The vast majority of all MLS® area average sale prices fall between $100,000 and $200,000.
Like the inextricable link between the musician and their instruments, REALTORS using MLS® create award winning performances and results.
It pays to use a REALTOR on MLS®.