Though home sales in the region around Georgian Bay continue to decrease, the local association of realtors says there's more inventory now, so buyers have more options.
Bonnie Looby, president of the Lakelands Association of Realtors, said in a news release from the association the anticipated upswing in cottage country sales in advance of capital gains inclusion rate changes didn't happen, which resulted in lower demands than expected.
"Sales of both waterfront and non-waterfront properties are trending below year-ago levels as summer begins," said Looby. "Sellers are still out in large numbers, but without a resurgence in buyer activity, we're seeing a continued increase in inventories on the market."
She recommends realtors for both sellers and buyers.
"Sellers should consult their local Realtor to help with setting expectations on price and time on market, while buyers would do well to seek a Realtor to navigate an environment in which there are undoubtedly good offers to be had," she said in the news release.
In the Lakelands Region, which wraps around Georgian Bay from Meaford through Collingwood, Grey Highlands and Wasaga Beach and north to Orillia, Midland, Muskoka and Parry Sound, there were 401 non-waterfront and 130 waterfront homes sold last month, which is a decrease of 17 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively, compared to June 2023.
In dollars, non-waterfront home sales last month totalled $297 million and waterfront sales reached $184 million, which are decreases of 23 per cent and 29 per cent respectively compared to June 2023.
Sales of non-waterfront and waterfront homes in the region are now almost 34 per cent below the ten year average for June.
Year-to-date, however, the decreases are less significant with 2,087 non-waterfront units and 523 waterfront units sold in the first six months of 2024, which is down by 8.3 per cent compared to 2023 for non-waterfront, and up by three waterfront home sales compared to 2023.
Prices though are not dipping at the same rate as number of sales, with the home price index composite benchmark price calculated by MLS based on price trends, sitting at around $723,000 for the region, down by less than one per cent compared to June 2023.
Broken down further, the benchmark price for a single-family home in the region is $753,700, for a townhouse it's $555,200 and for an apartment, it's $481,400.
The western part of Lakelands region, which includes The Blue Mountains, Clearview, Collingwood, Grey Highlands, Meaford and Wasaga Beach, saw the biggest decline in number of sales with a 32 per cent drop in non-waterfront sales (133 sales made in June 2024) and an 18 per cent drop (13 sales made in June 2024) compared to June 2023.
The non-waterfront median price in the west region was $680,000 in June and the waterfront median price was $1,275,000.
In the central part of the region, including Midland, Orillia, Oro-Medonte, Penetanguishene, Ramara, Springwater, Tay and Tiny, the median price for waterfront homes sold in June 2024 was $1.195,000 and for non-waterfront sales it was $662,500.
There were 20 waterfront homes sold (35 per cent decrease over June 2023) and 170 non-waterfront homes sold (14 per cent decrease) in the central part of the region last month.
