Oxford County: Woodstock & Ingersoll Results for the First Four Months of 2013

Sales of individual homes across Oxford County are up 16.5% or 45 homes ( 317 homes versus 272) after the first 4 months of 2013.  Prices are continuing to rise as well.  The average home now sits at $234,782. This represents an increase of 5.3% on a year to date basis with the average home owner making $11,482 improvement in value.  Homeowners are consistently getting 97% of asking price and it now takes 81 days to sell the average home. This year 64% of all homes listed for sale are selling during the listing period.

The City of Woodstock represents 51.2% of the reported sales for Oxford County.   Sales of individual homes in the City are also up to a lesser degree by 4.3% or a total of 8 homes (191 homes versus 183). Prices are also up 4.2% or $9,358 across the City ( $229,426 versus $220,068) for the same four month period.  The average time it takes to sell a home in Woodstock now sits at an average of 75 days down from 87 days.  Homeowners are getting 97% of asking prices in spite of prices rising.  Inventories continue to be lower than the first 4 months of 2012.  There is a 62% chance of getting a sale during the listing period. This is up nicely from 55% a year ago.

Ingersoll is enjoying similar growth for the first 4 months.  Sales of individual homes here are up 48.6% or 18 units on a base of 37 homes.  On the other hand prices have remained relatively flat decreasing marginally by 1/3 % to $706 ($196,239 average).  Part of the reason for the drop is an increase in inventory in Ingersoll specifically from a total of 174 homes up from 151 for the same 4 month period a year earlier.  The inventory is now back to the same level as it was a year earlier which should result in upward pressure on prices. Home owners were getting 96% of asking prices during this period compared to 98% a year ago.  In 2012 during the first 4 months homeowners had a 34% chance of getting their home sold during the listing period.  This year that number has increased to 49% and will continue to rise.  Contributing to this low level of sell through was the fact that 179 homes expired unsold in the first 4 months of 2012. This year this number is down to 27 homes.  As long as inventories remain low, prices will rise.

Clearly all markets, especially Ingersoll, remain excellent opportunities for First Time Home Buyers to enter the market.   Mortgage rates combined with Rental Rates continue to make this the perfect time to get into the market or to make the move up.  If prices continue to climb, because demand continues to outweigh supply, this remains an excellent time to make that "Move Up" move...and to make money on this investment over the long term.

Pick up the phone or email us and we'll be pleased to provide you with a personal market update on what's happening in your specific neck of the woods....

Gib's Cell:  519-535-3975

Your First Quarter Housing Market Update for 2012

Oxford County Results:

Let's take a look first at Single Family home sales across Oxford County first. For the first 3 months of 2012, we have sold 198 single family homes (excluding condominiums) across the County. This represents a decline of 17.8%. Last year we moved 241 homes in this same period. Prices for the first Quarter, on the other hand, moved up in the County 1.8% from an average of $ 218719 to $222,669. Home Owners achieved an average of 97% of Asking Price in 2012. This figure was up from 96% of Asking Price in 2011. It now takes an average of 88 days to sell a typical home. Interestingly the average success rate for selling a home dropped to under 50%, down significantly from 56%. In other words when you list your home for sale in Oxford County you only have a 49% chance of selling during the listing period. The number of homes that expired unsold jumped as well from 396 expired properties in 2011 to just over 1000 homes for the first 3 months of 2012.

Woodstock Results:

In the City of Woodstock itself, Individual sales of homes rose slightly in this first 3 month time frame. 131 homes sold versus 127 homes, representing a positive change of 3.14%. On the other hand Home prices dropped by less than 1% (.79%) staying basically flat at $218,639 (versus $220,392). The chanced of selling your home during the listing period outperformed the County by actually increasing from 49% for 2011 to 56% in 2012. The number of homes that expired unsold paralleled the County experience (575 unsold versus 59 last year for the first 3 months). In spite of the marginal decrease in the average price, home owners were actually getting 98% of asking price compared to 97% a year earlier.

We have taken a look at early Sales results for April and by all appearances we will see a +10% increase in unit movement for the month as will as an improvement in overall average pricing.

The market is in balance with inventories at the start of the month nicely lower than 2011. When supply moves lower than demand; home prices will rise due to competition from Buyers. The Market is continuing to be driven by First Time Buyers entering the Market taking advantage of the lowest interest rates in history! There is also a shortage of rental accommodations in Woodstock which is also driving more Buyers to move to Home Ownership.

In summary it is a "Great Time" to buy or to sell!