Buying a home in Innisfil? That'll cost more than it did 1 year ago

Innisfil seems to be bucking Ontario’s real estate trend as home prices continue to climb significantly in town.

The latest statistics from the Barrie and District Association of Realtors show the average residential sale price in Innisfil was $789,146 last month, up 9.64 per cent from December 2022. Interestingly, the number of sales dipped to 35 in December 2023, down from 41 in the final month of 2022.

Meanwhile, the number of new listings in town dropped from 96 in December 2022 to 49 last month, while total active listings decreased from 176 to 164. However, there was about 4.7 months of inventory on the market, up from 4.3 a year ago.

The data, released Jan. 15, shows the number of units sold across Simcoe County in December sat at 314, 11.4 per cent more than during the final month of 2022. The average price of residential units sold was $777,328 last month, a 4.3 per cent decline compared to December 2022.

And despite a 31.5 per cent decrease in new listings, the overall inventory of homes remains well above December 2022, with 1,484 active listings, representing 4.7 months of inventory.

“This is a time of cautious optimism for county real estate as we foresee a gradual yet steady recovery in home sales in 2024,” BDAR chair Lindsay Percy said, while anticipating lower borrowing costs in 2024 will lead to a revitalized housing market.

Here’s how four other local municipalities fared last month:

• Barrie — Overall, 111 homes sold in December 2023, up 30.6 per cent from the same month the year prior. The average sale price was $700,785 last month, down three per cent from one year ago. New listings dropped 35 per cent to 141 over that span, though active listings did climb 37.3 per cent to 357. There is 3.2 months’ worth of inventory left on the city’s market.
• Bradford — Thirty-two units sold (a 37.2 per cent decrease) for an average of nearly $1.1 million (down 5.2 per cent). New listings decreased 34.4 per cent to 21, active listings rose 29.4 per cent to 66, and there was 2.1 months of inventory available.
• Essa — Nine units sold (a 25 per cent drop) for an average of $719,656 (an 18.3 per cent decline). New listings declined 60 per cent to 12, active listings jumped 21.1 per cent to 46, and there was 5.1 months of inventory.
• Orillia — Ten units sold (a 16.7 per cent drop) for an average of $641,641 (down 16.56 per cent). New listings dropped 23.4 per cent to 28, active listings increased 25.53 per cent to 59, and there were 5.9 months of inventory available.

This comes as new data released this week from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) shows the average prices for single-family homes in Ontario were up .9 per cent in December, compared to the same month in 2022.

The CREA numbers are seasonally adjusted and do not take inflation into account. Inflation, depending on what measure you choose, is running at between 3.1 and 3.5 per cent.

On a provincewide basis, prices for condos were down by .7 per cent, and townhouses were up by 1.4 per cent.

Nationally, sales volumes rose 8.7 per cent month-over-month in December, though the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) price index was up only .7 per cent year-over-year, roughly in line with Ontario.

“Was the December bounce in home sales the start of the expected recovery in Canadian housing markets? Probably not just yet,” CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart said. “It was more likely just some of the sellers and buyers that were holding onto unrealistic pricing expectations last fall finally coming together to get deals done before the end of the year. We’re still forecasting a recovery in housing demand in 2024, but we’ll have to wait a few more months to get a sense of what that ultimately looks like.”

In the Greater Toronto Area in December, single-family house prices were up 1.6 per cent, condos were down .9 per cent, and townhouses were up 1.7 per cent compared to December of 2022, using seasonally adjusted numbers unadjusted for inflation.

“While December did offer up a bit of a surprise in sales numbers to cap the year, the real test of the markets’ resilience will be in the spring,” CREA chair Larry Cerqua said.

BDAR represents 1,600 Realtors throughout the region. For more details on the organization, visit bdar.ca.

— With files from Patrick Cain