According to CREA:
MLS® residential sales activity showed more signs of recovery in the third quarter of 2009 in the area served by the Nova Scotia Association of REALTORS®. Year-over-year declines were the smallest in four quarters.
Residential property sales were down only five per cent to 2,692 units in the third quarter. The shrinking decline was a result of smaller decreases in all three months of the quarter compared to earlier in the year. Sales activity in August actually posted the first year-over-year increase in over a year. The third quarter result stood just eight per cent below the record for the third quarter period set in 2007.
Seasonally adjusted sales were up seven per cent on a quarterly basis (seasonal adjustment removes normal seasonal fluctuations). Building on the increase in the previous quarter, seasonally adjusted activity now stands 19 per cent above the low from the first quarter of 2009.
MLS® detached home sales were down seven per cent year-over-year in the third quarter of 2009, the smallest decline in four quarters. Detached home sales activity was down in all areas except Cape Breton.
The number of active listings posted the smallest year-over-year increase in six quarters in the third quarter of 2009. This resulted in a more balanced MLS® market for detached homes relative to a year earlier.
With a more balanced MLS® market for detached homes, homebuyers took more time to shop than they had one year earlier, except in the Northern Nova Scotia and the Highland regions.
The median sale price for MLS® detached homes rose six per cent from a year earlier to $199,500 in the third quarter of 2009.
Median sale prices increased in all areas of Nova Scotia, rising the most in the Highland region (+13 per cent) to $151,400. The median price was up three per cent year-over-year to $235,000 in the Halifax-Dartmouth area.
Terri Brewer
Catherine E. Harvey Realties
Baddeck, NS
902 295 2364ph, 902 295 3019 fax
902 295 3472 home
