WinnipegREALTORS® Press Release, November 5, 2014

WINNIPEG – WinnipegREALTORS® experienced its fourth busiest October on record. It had over 1,100 MLS® sales which is 5% higher than the ten-year average for October and only 7% off the best October months in 2007 and 2013. Dollar volume decreased slightly more than sales did in October as significant inventory is putting pressure on holding prices down. However, the second highest dollar volume for October was still enough to push year-to-date dollar volume over $3 billion for the first time with still two months to go.

MLS® listings remain an important development in how the market is evolving this year. New listings entered on the MLS® in October were up 7% while the active listings or current inventory heading into November has risen 21% over last year. The three month streak of 5,000 MLS® listings going into the next month came to an end though with more than 4,600 MLS® listings available at present.

October MLS® unit sales decreased 7% (1,113/1,196) while dollar volume dropped 8% ($291.4 million/$316.7 million) in comparison to the same month last year. Year-to-date MLS® sales are down less than 1% ( 11,391/11,430) while dollar volume is up 3% ($3.04 billion/$2.95 billion) in comparison to the same period last year.

“Given all the additional listings we have on the MLS® market this year it may appear and feel like we are not doing as well in terms of sales,” said David Powell, president of WinnipegREALTORS®. “This is not the case at all. We are less than 3% off our best year to this date and have the highest dollar volume on record at over $3 billion. Buyers are realizing good opportunities exist to take advantage of all the choice and supply of listings in our current market.”

One of the impacts of higher inventory the last few months has been on condominium sales activity. Some of the empty nesters wanting to sell their bigger home and get into a condominium have experienced increased difficulty due to more competition from similar empty nester properties being placed on the market. This has resulted in a decline in condominium sales from what would have been expected otherwise. Of the 114 condominium sales in October only 5 sold for above list price with 4 out of 5 selling below list price.

The two leading property type sales categories of residential-detached or single family and condominiums are up 2 and 4 % respectively to the end of October. Vacant land sales are down 31% so are a drag on MLS® total sales.

For residential-detached sales in October the two price ranges of $250,000 to $299,999 and $200,000 to $249,999 were evenly split at 21% each of total sales. The $150,000 to $199,999 was next busiest at 13%. One home sold for $1,625,000 while another went for $35,000. The average days on market to sell a residential-detached property was 36 days, 3 days slower than last month and a week off the pace set in October 2013.

The most active condominium price range for sales activity was from $150,000 to $199,999 at 37%. Well back was the $200,000 to $249,999 price range at 21%. The highest sale price was $740,000. The average days on market for condominium sales was 40 days, the same as last month and 10 days less than October 2013.

Established in 1903, WinnipegREALTORS® is a professional association representing over 1,800 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.