Market Recap - June 2018
Single Family Prices and Volume
108 single family homes sold in June, down 22% from the 139 sold in May, and down over 41% from the 184 that sold in the same timeframe last year. The average home price decreased marginally from May’s average of $563,218 to $556,879 although this is almost 6% higher than last June when the average home price was $526,234 The median sale price decreased by 5% in June to $525,900 from May’s $555,000, but this is still 5% higher than last June’s median sale price of $500,000. Dating back to February, which is often when we see the market start to spring back to life the average price had hovered in a fairly narrow band between a low of $551,392 in March and a high of $563,218 in May, with median prices bottoming out for this time period this past month at $525,900, after peaking last month at $555,000. 234 homes were listed in June representing a 12% decrease from May, and a 10% decrease over the 261 listed in June of 2017.
Strength of the Trend
Factors we also look at when analyzing a market to validate its strength are sell/list ratio; sell price; days to sell, and current inventory numbers:
The sell/list ratio continued to decrease in June, coming in at 46%, down from 52% in May and down over 34% from 70% in June of 2017, 45% from 83% in June of 2016, and down more than 31% from 67% in June of 2015.
The sell price/list price remained constant at 99% in June which is not suggesting every home is selling at 99% of the asking price as it is just an average, with some selling well below asking, and the most attractively priced offerings going into multiple offer situations and selling above the list price in many cases.
The average days on the market increased to 20 days from 16 in May, which is 1 more than the average of 19 days on the market from June of last year.
As of the end of June, the number of active listings was 402, up over 12% from May, and almost 25% higher than inventory levels at the same time last year. This is the highest number of active listings since September of 2015.
Top Performing Neighbourhoods & Categories
12 of the 18 sub-areas defined by the real estate board in Nanaimo saw an increase in the average selling price (trailing 12 months) from May to June, with all 18 experiencing increased prices year-over-year. When looking at these neighbourhood figures, it is important to note that we use trailing 12-month figures to limit volatility caused by lower transaction volumes in some neighbourhoods, where a few high priced or low priced transactions could tremendously skew results. A trailing 12 figure will always be slower to react than simple month-over-month, so that is why the results here are not going to be as pronounced as the figures used in the stats we report above. Moving on, these annual increases range from under 1% in Lower Lantzville to 20.77% in Uplands. Top risers month-over-month were Extension, Pleasant Valley, Departure Bay, and Uplands. Top performers year-over-year were Uplands, Extension, Central Nanaimo, Brechin Hill, and University District. Looking at volume, the only risers both monthly and annually were Upper Lantzville and Diver Lake.
Single family waterfront properties, apartment style condos, and patio homes saw an increase in average sale price from May to June, while all categories saw increases year-over-year. On low volume, single family waterfront properties were the only category in June to experience month-over-month and year-over-year sales volume increases.
Author’s Comments
You may have noticed that this market recap has been very much scaled back and stripped of all interpretation and value-added content. If you have been one of the many who have relied on our monthly commentary as your go-to source for market information, we sincerely apologize for these modifications that we have reluctantly had to make to our recap to ensure we are onside with the new real estate rules and regulations governing the province that came into effect June 15. It is our genuine hope that sometime soon we will once again be able to deliver the value-added commentary on a mass scale that reflects our true advisory approach to the business.
With June seeing the average price down, median price down, sales volume down, sell/list ratio down, days on market up, and inventory levels for single-family homes reaching near three year highs, we believe that if there ever was a time the market needed interpretation and expert insight, it is right now. While for the time being, we cannot provide it through our monthly recap, if you have any questions about what all these statistics mean for you as a buyer, seller, investor, or observer of the market, feel free to contact us directly at 250-751-0804 or info@jahelkagroup.com.
Check out the Nanaimo Market Statistics Here: Monthly Statistics for June 2018
Source: VIREB