WinnipegREALTORS® Press Release, April 8, 2015

WINNIPEG - More spring-like weather this March compared to the previous few years helped spur more sales activity. MLS® sales climbed over 1,000 and ended up being just 2% off the ten-year March average of 1,025. First quarter sales activity showed a similar pattern, also off 2% from the ten-year average of 2,318 MLS® sales.

MLS® dollar volume of $276 million was up 11% over March of last year and up 9% over the ten-year average.

New and available listings continue to be impressive when compared to last March.  New listings entered on the MLS® in March increased 33% while the active listings or existing inventory were up 29% to 4,338 MLS® listings. Whatever is being sold is more than being replenished by the entry of new listings on the system.

You have to go back to 1999 to find as many listings available for sale at this time of year and back to 1995 when there were more new listings entered on MLS® in March. For the first quarter, 5,499 listings have been entered on MLS®, an increase of 37% over the 10-year average.

March MLS® unit sales were up 9% (1,005/919) while dollar volume increased 11% ($276.23 million/$249.1 million) in comparison to the same month last year. Year-to-date MLS® sales increased less than 5% (2,265/2,164) while dollar volume was up just over 5% ($600.0 million/$570.9 million). The 5,499 listings entered on MLS® for the first quarter are up 26% from the same period in 2014.

“Conditions are ideal for buyers to take advantage of a healthy supply of listings and historically low mortgage rates,” said David Mackenzie, President of WinnipegREALTORS®.  “Our mortgage brokers are telling us we have likely not seen rates as low as we have now since the 50’s or 60’s.”

MacKenzie added, “The much more balanced market has kept prices totally in line with last year so affordability remains a real strength of our local market compared to other Canadian cities.”

The most active residential-detached price range in March was the $250,000 to $299,999 price range at 19%. It eked out a slight edge over the $200,000 to $249,999 range which represented 18% of total sales. 3 out of 4 residential-detached sales in March were between $150,000 and $350,000.

For condominium sales activity in March, the busiest price range was from $150,000 to $199,999 at 28%. Not far behind was the range from $200,000 to $249,999 at 25%.

The average days on market for residential-detached sales was 28 days, 6 days quicker than last month and the same pace as March 2014. The average days on market for condominium sales was 45 days, 3 days faster than last month and 13 days off the pace set in March 2014.

Established in 1903, WinnipegREALTORS® is a professional association representing over 1,875 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.