Last month’s real estate residential sales set an all-time record according to recently-released figures for June 2020 from Renfrew County Real Estate Board (RCREB). One metric in particular stands out:
Residential sales activity recorded in Renfrew County totaled 305 units in June 2020. This was an increase of 28.2% from June 2019. This was also a new sales record for the month of June and was the highest level for any month in history. To top it all off, this was also the first time in history that any month had ever surpassed 300 sales.
RCREB goes on to say that the dollar value of all home sales in June 2020 was $90.9 million, a large increase of 44.2 percent from the same month in 2019. “This was a new record for the month of June and was also the largest dollar value of homes sold for any month in history. The average price of homes sold in June 2020 was $298,052, showing an increase of 12.5 percent from June 2019.”
In terms of the market as a whole, RCREB reports, “Sales of all property types numbered 345 units in June 2020; this was a large increase of 33.7% from June 2019. The total value of all properties sold was $100.9 million, a large increase of 51.6% from June 2019.”
The Current contacted local realtor Ann Maika-Chartrand (inset) for comment. This is Maika-Chartrand’s debut season as a realtor (she was licensed last December) and she hastened to assure us that while this is an “interesting first year,” she does not expect business will always be at this level. She told us, “2020 has been a unique year, and real estate, like everything else has experienced the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. Implementing safer showing techniques and using more creative ways to show properties meant that buyers and sellers were still able to count on our essential services. I’ve found that social media marketing and virtual tours allow buyers to preview homes more effectively.”
“The inventory of homes for sale is low right now, which means that it is a “sellers’ market.” New listings are coming onto the market, and I’ve personally noticed an increase in requests for listing consultations, which means that for those looking to call the Madawaska Valley “home”, we can help!”
Residential inventory low
The county report shows that there were 283 new residential listings in June 2020, up 6.8 percent on a year-over-year basis. RCREB says the stock of new listings has not rebounded as strongly as home sales; this creates an imbalance of supply and demand and pushes the market even further into sellers’ territory.
Active residential listings numbered 420 units at the end of June; this was a large decline of 45 percent from the end of June 2019. This was also the lowest overall supply for the month in more than 15 years.
This is underscored by the RCREB’s “months of inventory” figure; that is, the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity. RCREB notes, “Months of inventory numbered 1.4 at the end of June 2020, down from the 3.2 months recorded at the end of June 2019 and below the long-run average of 5.6 months for this time of year.”
Martin,S. Renfrew County Real Estate Board(2020,July16) June 2020 Stats [media notice]
