The markham real estate market had an interesting month in July. Prices seemed to have levelled out, inventory dropped a bit but total sales were significantly up as compared to the same period last year. Let’s take a close look!
First, let’s start with prices. As you can see from the graph below, the steady increase in price we’ve seen since March seems to have finally piqued as the average price dropped marginally from June’s average price. However, compared to last July, we saw a very healthy increase of 9.54% and the year-to-date average is trending at 3.9% higher than last year’s average sale price. Currently, the average price of a home sold in Markham for 2013 is $629,131.
The average time it took for a home to sell in Markham during July was 25 days. That’s up from the 21 days in June but that’s no real surprise as the summer months are typically a little slower. I wouldn’t be surprised to see that number grow again in August. The bigger question is: Will the average days on market continue to increase until the new year as we witnessed last year? or will it drop once we’re past the summer market? Time will tell, but I would expect it to drop a bit as last year’s fall market was highly influenced by the stricter mortgage lending guidelines implemented last July.
The biggest surprise for July was that total sales remained steady as compared to June but compared to July of 2012, totals sales were up almost 30%. While this is definitely a great sign, the market is still playing catch-up when considering the total year-to-date sales. So far this year, there have been 2815 homes sold as compared to 2997 at the same point last year. That puts us at 6.5% behind last year’s pace. It’s quite possible that those buyers who put off their purchase last year due to the new lending guidelines may have decided to re-enter the market. Maybe we’ll continue to see higher than average summer sales?
I should also note that total inventory dropped a bit as there weren’t as many new listings causing the absorption rate to increase up to 50%. This means half of all active listings were absorbed (sold) and we can safely say the market has been fairly balanced.
If you’re planning to sell or buy a home in Markham over the next few months, please give me a call and we can discuss an appropriate strategy for your current situation. I can always be reached directly at 416-995-5542 or by e-mail at [email protected]
