Residential sales activity recorded through the MLS® System of the REALTORS® Association of Grey Bruce Owen Sound came in well above year-ago levels in March 2016.

Home sales numbered 213 units in March 2016, up 36.5 per cent from March 2015. This was the highest level on record for sales in the month of March.

Sales of all types of properties numbered 268 units in March 2016, up 41.1 per cent from the previous March.

The average price of homes sold in March 2016 was $255,923, up 11.9 per cent on a year-over-year basis.

New residential listings on the Association’s MLS® System numbered 428 units in March 2016. This was a decrease of 20 per cent compared to March 2015.

Active residential listings totalled 1,216 units at the end of March, down 32.5 per cent from the same time last year. Inventories have dropped sharply in recent months.

The number of months of inventory stood at 5.7 at the end of March, well down from 11.6 months at the end of March 2015 and below the long-run average for this time of the year. 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.

The dollar value of all home sales in March was $54.5 million, up 52.8 per cent on a year-over-year basis. This was a record for the month of March, marking the first time that the dollar volume for residential transactions has surpassed $50 million at this time of year.

The total value of all properties sold in March 2016 was $71.9 million, an increase of 44.9 per cent from a year earlier.

The REALTORS® Association of Grey Bruce Owen Sound represents approximately 360 REALTORS® registered with its member offices. The geographical area served by the Association is in southwestern Ontario, bordered by Lake Huron and Georgian Bay including Bruce and Grey Counties, and part of Wellington County.