The average price of
homes sold through the MLS® System of the Saint John Real Estate Board rose
to the highest annual level on record in 2009. Sales activity
also posted a second consecutive year-over-year gain in
December.
According
to statistics provided by the Board, the average price for
homes sold in December 2009 rose 14 per cent from year-ago
levels to $178,037. This is the fourth consecutive
double-digit price gain. By comparison, the average price for
home sales in New Brunswick was up five per cent
year-over-year to $148,559.
On
an annual basis, the average price of all homes sold in Saint
John was $171,027 in 2009. This is a new annual record, up
eight per cent from 2008.
Residential
sales numbered 97 units in December 2009, rising 20 per cent
from year-ago levels. Provincial sales activity, by
comparison, was up 15 per cent from a year
earlier.
Home
sales were up in the fourth quarter of 2009, but transactions
in the first three quarters of the year were down from their
respective periods in 2008. As a result, annual sales activity
in Saint John declined eight per cent to 1,986 units in 2009.
It was the third best year on record for home sales in Saint
John, standing 12 per cent below the peak in
2007.
The
total value of all home sales was $17.3 million in December
2009, rising 36 per cent from one year earlier. This is the
highest dollar volume on record for the month of December. The
dollar volume for all homes sold in 2009 was $339.7 million,
down one per cent from 2008. The monthly dollar volume of
residential sales in New Brunswick increased 21 per cent from
the previous December.
Total
sales in Saint John numbered 112 units in December, up six per
cent year-over-year. The total value of these property sales
was $19.5 million, an increase of 33 per cent from December
2008.
New
listings on the Board’s MLS® System were up 14 per cent from
one year earlier to 157 units in December. This is a record
for the month. There were 1,030 active residential listings on
the Board’s MLS® System at the end of December 2009. Although
this is an increase of 16 per cent from one year ago, the pace
of supply gains continues to slow as demand
improves.
There
were 10.6 months of inventory at the end of December, down
slightly from December 2008 (11 months). The
number of months of inventory is the number of months it would
take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales
activity.
“Strong
price gains continue to draw more sellers to the
market,”
said Peter Pappas, President of the Saint
John Real Estate Board.
“Activity improved steadily throughout 2009, and
that
momentum is likely to carry forward into the new
year.”
The Saint John Real Estate Board is an association
of over 300 REALTORS® that provides services to and sets
standards for members. The Saint John Real Estate Board covers
the southern part of New Brunswick to the U.S. border in St.
Stephen, and includes the counties of St. John, Kings,
Charlotte and portions of Queens County.
