The Lethbrigde Real Estate Board report came in showing that the market is consistently improving in the recent months.
In the month of September, there were a total of 458 listings, which is only 2 listings less when compared to the same period in 2008. This proves that the market is on the verge of reaching 2008 levels, despite the rough beginning we had.
The total numbers of listings from year to date is 4,365, compared to September 2008, there is a 14% decrease or 735 listings less than in September 2009.
The total number of sales this month is 212, which is only 16 sales less than in September 2008 or 7% less. With less listings on the market, buyers have to make do with the inventory that is available to them, which is proved in the small difference in sales between the past year.
The total sales dollar volume for the month is $52,430,408, while the total sales dollar volume for the same period last year was $55,895,858. The difference is almost $3.4 million which shows that the slow start in the year has hindered its sales to reach the point it was at in 2008.
On a more positive note, the data for September 2009 is far better than September 2007, where the market slowed down considerably. The totals sales volume year to date for September 2007 is almost $200 million higher than in the data of 2009, however the data mentioned above is higher in 2009 than in 2007.
This tells us that the cool down in the market seen in 2007 is definitely not shown now, as the market is currently moving along well in Lethbrdige.
We might be down in the total sales volumes year to date in 2009 compared to both 2008 and 2007; however, if you take in the economic instability, it is not that bad.
With the month of October ahead of us, let us hope to see this streak continue further increasing the numbers to reach the point that was seen in 2008 as the recession comes to a close.
Heleen Jacobsen
Broker of Record with InfoMarket Group GMAC Real Estate
www.infomarketgroup.com
