Barrie & District Home Sales Continue to Decrease

Barrie & District Home Sales Continue to Decrease from Year Ago, but Decline is Less Severe than March May 15, 2018 – April 2018 sales information is in, and while sales are still less than in April 2017, the decline is not as severe as it was during March. Through the month of April, residential property sales recorded through the Matrix™ System in the Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® Inc. (BDAR) region were 404 units. This is down 33.1% from year ago. The average price of homes sold during this time was $475,237—down 15.5% from April 2017. Simcoe County figures mirror that of Toronto’s, which had a 32.1% decrease in sales and a 12.4% decline in average sale price in April 2018. 

In the City of Barrie, sales came in at 183 units. This is a 42.5% decline from last April and is a larger decline than that of the whole Simcoe County (-33.1%). The average price of homes sold in the City of Barrie during April was $461,998 and is down 15.2% from the average price from year ago. This average price decrease is in line with that of the total Simcoe County (-15.5%). 

In the other parts of Simcoe County (Simcoe excl. Barrie), sales numbered 221 unit for the month of April 2018. This figure is down 22.7% from the same time last year and is less than the sales unit decline coming from total Simcoe County (-33.1%). The average price for a home in the Simcoe County excluding Barrie was $486,119 for the month of April, which is 16.6% less than the average price of homes in April 2017. This decline in sales price is slightly more than that of the whole Simcoe region (-15.5%). “Home sales in the region are stabilizing from the year prior and beginning to reflect the impact of the tougher mortgage qualification criteria that came into effect in January,” says Geoff Halford, 2018 BDAR President. “At this point, it’s likely sales will present differences from last year, though the market still demonstrates long-term growth—just at a slower rate.” The number of homes sold in the City of Barrie constituted 45.3% of homes sold in the Simcoe County region, and the remaining Simcoe County constituted the remaining 54.7% of sales. During April 2017, the City of Barrie made up the majority of home sales with 52.6% of sales, while the remaining Simcoe County made up 47.3% of sales.