WinnipegREALTORS® Press Release, May 7, 2015

WINNIPEG - The real estate market is either very, very good … or really, really suspect … depending on which headlines you choose to read.

It’s difficult to decide what’s really happening from the sound bites, but the numbers on the resale market for the first 4 months of the year paint a fairly rosy picture. Statistics for the first third of the year are up from comparable numbers last year, and last year recorded the 4^th best resale numbers in the past 20 years and the best dollar volume ever through the Multiple Listing Service®.

“Our numbers continue to support our Forecast Breakfast predictions.” said WinnipegREALTORS® President David MacKenzie. “In January we predicted that sales would be up 0-2% year-over-year and home prices would increase by the same amount. And the January through April activity bears that out and then some."

The April MLS® listing inventory, the number of properties available for sale in Winnipeg, rose almost 36%. So buyers had more properties to choose from than last April (5,232), which indicates more balance in the marketplace.

Listings entered into the MLS® system were also up 23% over last April, with the addition of 2,837 properties this year.

Sales followed suit. The number of sales processed in the month was up close to 4% from last April, with 1,273 sales recorded. And dollar volume was up 8.8% at $362.3 million.

The April numbers helped maintain positive year-to-date market stats. 8,336 listings have been entered on the MLS® system since January 1^st - up 25% from last year - and 3,538 sales have been recorded - up 4% from the same period in 2014.

The January through April dollar volume is up 6.5% at $962.4 million.

President David MacKenzie was positive about the market activity in the first 4 months: “We often say that real estate is local with national averages and trends meaning very little. Our market is OUR market. And even within our own m

arket … activity is local. What’s trending in Island Lakes will not necessarily be mirrored in the North End. I know of some MLS® areas where offers are few and far between while in other pockets of the City, multiple offers are still happening.”

He went on to say that in April, 22% of residential detached homes sold for more that list price, 8.5% sold at list, while 69% sold below list.

For condominiums, almost 11% sold above list … 18% sold at list … and 71% sold below list.

The most active price range in April for residential detached homes was $250,000 - $299,999 (22% of sales), followed by the $200,000 - $249,999 range (16%).

Average days on the market was 27, compared to 26 last April. The highest priced residential detached sale fetched $1,590,000 and the least expensive sale was $8,000.

The most active price range for condos was $150,000 - $199,999 (25% of sales) followed closely by the $200,000 - $249,999 range (22%). Days on market for condos was 49, compared to 38 last year with the highest priced condo going for $630,000 and the lowest priced sale at $244,579.

Established in 1903, WinnipegREALTORS® is a professional association representing over 1,850 real estate brokers, salespeople, appraisers, and financial members active in the Greater Winnipeg Area real estate market.  Its REALTOR® members adhere to a strict code of ethics and share a state-of-the-art Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) designed exclusively for REALTORS®. WinnipegREALTORS® serves its members by promoting the benefits of an organized real estate profession.  REALTOR®, MLS® and Multiple Listing Service® are trademarks owned and controlled by The Canadian Real Estate Association and are used under licence.