A hot month of MLS® sales activity led to new WinnipegREALTORS® sales and dollar volume records for July.
“Winnipeg’s solid economic fundamentals continue to support consumer confidence and validate our forecast for another strong year of MLS® real estate activity,” said WinnipegREALTORS® Association president Darlene Clare.
MLS® sales for the first time in July went over 1,400 units and dollar volume sales closed in on $270 million, which puts July among the top-six months ever for dollar volume. With $319 million in sales, May 2008 was the highest dollar volume month ever on record.
July MLS® sales were up 13 per cent and dollar volume increased by 24 per cent when compared to the same month last year.
Year-to-date, MLS® sales of 8,224 units are nearly dead even with last year’s total of 8,204. Dollar volume sales went up 15 per cent to $1.6 billion when compared to the same seven-period in 2007.
Clare said dollar volume sales are well on the way to topping $2 billion for the second year in a row. Last year was the first time dollar volume topped the $2 billion mark.
A surge in new listings is a good indication that demand is moving towards closely matching the supply of listings, added Clare.
New listings were up 33 per cent in July, according to WinnipegREALTORS® statistics.
“With a notable improvement in the inventory situation, especially in comparison to the beginning of the year when the MLS® cupboard was nearly bare, it is encouraging to see Winnipeg’s MLS® market moe towards a balanced situation,” Clare added. “It is probably about time there was a more level playing field for buyers, which has not been the case for a number of years.”
During July, the most active price range for residential-detached homes was from $160,000 to $199,999 with 24 per cent of all sales. Only 10 per cent of all sales were in the under-$100,000 price range, which a few years would have represented the majority of sales. On the other hand, 13 per cent of sales were over $300,000.
The highest selling price for a single home was$990,000 in july, while the lowest was $10,000.
MLS® residential-detached listings spent an average of 25 days on the market before being sold.