Barrie Real Estate Market 2010 home sales statistics

Residential property sales recorded through the MLS® System of the Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® Inc. posted a solid end to the year, with December sales coming in above a five-year average for the month.

Residential sales numbered 193 units in December 2010, down just seven per cent from a very strong month of December in 2009. The small year-over-year decrease was a considerable improvement from the large double-digit declines that had characterized the previous seven months. This was reflected in the seasonally adjusted figure, which jumped 14 per cent to reach the highest level since April.

Annual sales activity totalled 4,105 units in 2010. This was down five per cent from levels in 2009, and stood one per cent above 2008.

“December was a strong month for home sales in the region,” said Catherine Garbe, President of the Barrie and District Association of REALTORS®. “Despite a considerable amount of volatility over the past year, 2010 was still a solid year for home sales, with activity topping the 4,000 mark for the ninth consecutive year.”

The average price for all homes sold via the Association’s MLS® System in 2010 was $281,966, up seven per cent from the average price in 2009.

The Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® cautions that over a period of time, the use of average price information can be useful in establishing trends, but it does not indicate actual prices in widely divergent areas or account for price differentials, between geographical areas.

The total dollar value of all home sales amounted to $53.5 million in December 2010, edging down one per cent from year-ago levels. The annual dollar value of residential transactions was $1.2 billion, up eight per cent from 2009, and the second highest annual total on record.

Total sales activity in the Barrie region numbered 196 units in December, down eight per cent on a year-over-year basis. The total value of all properties sold in December 2010 was $55 million, edging down slightly by six tenths of one per cent from December 2009.

New residential listings were down two per cent from a year earlier to 260 units in December. The number of active residential listings on the Association’s MLS® System was up six per cent on a year-over-year basis, numbering 1,108 units at the end of December 2010.

There were 4.8 months of inventory at the end of December 2010 on a seasonally adjusted basis. This is the lowest level since April 2010. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.

The Barrie and District Association of REALTORS® Inc. covers a geographical area that includes the City of Barrie and part or all of the surrounding townships, including Springwater, Oro-Medonte, Innisfil, Essa, Bradford-West Gwillimbury and Clearview. The Association provides continuing education, Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®), statistical information, and many other services to its members.