Kawartha Lakes real estate saw records set on both sides of the same coin in November: while inventory levels hit all-time lows, the month's sales soared to new heights, according to data from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).
The number of homes sold through the MLS System of the Kawartha Lakes Real Estate Association Inc. increased 41.5% from the same month last year, reaching 116 units and, indeed, setting a new record.
Meanwhile, home sales totalled 1,377 units over the first 11 months of the year, a 19% year-to-date increase from the same period in 2019.
READ: Toronto Storeys’ Real Estate Issue of the Year 2020: The Rise of Cottage Country
And according to the MLS Home Price Index (HPI) -- which tracks price trends far more accurately than is possible using average or median price measures -- the overall composite/single-family benchmark price was $492,100, rising 29.1% year-over-year.
Where dollar values of all home sales were concerned, November saw activity amount to $69.9 million, which more than doubles the levels from a year prior, actually soaring 102% y-o-y and, again, setting a new record for the month.
But where there are highs, there must also be lows, and these presented through the 106 new residential listings last month saw. This total edged down 2.8% -- or three listings -- from the end of November 2019. And boasting an even more dramatic drop, active residential listings declined 61.9% year-over-year, numbering 123 units at the end of November.
Also presenting a significant low, months of inventory -- 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 -- was 1.1 at the end of November 2020. The count was down from the 3.9 months recorded at the end of last November, and hovers below the long-run average for this time of year, which sits at four months.
It's been long discussed and, for months now, the numbers have shown it to be true: when it comes to cottage country real estate, the demand is not dissipating. In fact, challenging the weather's chill, competition in the northern region looks to be as hot as ever.
