Lake of Bays Market Review, Janurary - June 2010
With the first six months of the year coming to a close, it is time to review what happened in this time period. At the beginning of the year, all indications were that the early spring market on the lake would be robust. With the announcement of the introduction of the HST effective July 1; anticipated rising interest rates from the Bank of Canada; a strong economic forecast for Canada; and the early spring weather that allowed us to show waterfront approximately 4 weeks earlier than in recent past springs, we were prepared to be busy. Our preparations proved to be unnecessary as the spring market for the first 5 months of the year kept pace with the previous 2 years which were not considered strong early markets. June has shown more robustness with sales slightly outpacing last year. The positive news is that the average sale price of $663,565 is up over last year's end of June average of $579,062.
The inventory of cottage properties on Lake of Bays is slightly higher than last year at the same time, which would suggest that there is a greater selection for buyers to choose from, yet that is not the case. Much of the increased inventory is due to the increasing numbers of fractional properties (Blue Water Acres, Corbett Cove and The Landscapes) appearing on the Multiple Listing system. It is also apparent that this is still a strong Buyer's market. Unless a cottage and lot is exceptional and listed at an amount that allows the Buyer to easily see the value, or the property is listed at a lower amount which allows the buyer to mentally compensate for lack of features, buyers pass and continue to look in the hopes that a more suitable cottage or a more suitably priced cottage will come on the market later in the year. Buyers know that with patience the right one will come along, if not this year, perhaps next. The days of 2007 and alarm buying are long gone. Pricing continues to be key.
Predications are difficult but in looking at the balance of the year it appears that we may have a repeat of last year's pattern of strong fall sales. In 2009, 68% of the 50 listings sold on the lake occurred after July 1. Also, this looks to be following the five years prior to the recession, in which the spring selling seasons had the same general lack luster sales figures and selection. Once summer arrived, cottage owners serious about selling, made downward price adjustments. Those price reductions, plus increased inventory from cottage owners that had wanted to spend one last summer at the cottage and put the cottage on the market in August, spurred a significant increase in sales activity in August, September and October.
An interesting note regarding the mix of buyers looking on Lake of Bays. In years past (prior 2007) the majority of buyers were from the GTA and the "Toronto-Muskoka" connection was significant. Today's buyers come from afar - Southern Ontario, Eastern Ontario, Northern Ontario, British Columbia, Europe, Asia, United States as well as GTA and the Golden Triangle. We find our national network of 600 offices and international network of 127,000 associates worldwide invaluable in promoting properties in our area. Statistics tell us that over 90% of today's buyers look to the internet to start their cottage search and the royallepage.ca website with hundreds of visits a day as well as realtor.ca are critical. My website jayrichardson.ca is visited by an international audience daily. Lake of Bays and the surrounding region is a sought after vacation area.
Jay Richardson
Broker
Lake of Bays - January 1 - June 27, 2010
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | |
| # of Sales | 13 | 16 | 18 |
| Average List Price | $705,362 | $625,219 | $715,064 |
| Average Sale Price | $669,423 | $579,062 | $663,565 |
| Lowest Sale Price | $145,000 | $59,000 | $135,000 |
| Highest Sale Price | $2,495,000 | $1,300,000 | $1,400,000 |
Jay Richardson, Broker
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