Hello LV Readers! We’re in the final stretch of 2022. It’s hard to believe that 11 out of 12 months have already come and gone. The pandemic does a weird thing with time where it speeds everything up but also slows everything down – do you know what I mean?
The winter so far has been really mild. Snow a few days but dry conditions and above freezing for the rest. Do you prefer snowy or snowless days? I definitely prefer the aesthetic of snowy days but the snow itself is rather inconveniencing. Enough with the winter babble… let’s talk real estate.
This month, we saw a decrease in condo sales year over year and an increase month over month. For sales volume, we saw a decrease both year over year and month over month. Let’s delve into the numbers for our Liberty Village condo market in November and let them do the talking.
How Many Condos Sold in Liberty Village In November?
November 2022 saw a total of 19 condo sales in Liberty Village. In comparison, November 2021 saw a total of 38 condo sales- a 50% decrease. This is a substantial decrease, although, not for the Fall/Winter months of 2022. In the last several months, we’ve been seeing astronomical decreases year over year in condo sales, so a 50% decrease is actually quite mild in comparison. Is this surprising for a late Winter month? Yes. Historically, as the weather gets colder, we see fewer buyers and fewer transactions. Coupled with interest rates at an all time high (therefore, less purchasing power), a surplus of inventory (especially left-over inventory that hasn’t sold in the previous several months) and there being far less buyers out there, this statistic is definitely a shocking one.
When looking at condo sales month over month, October 2022 had 9 sales. That’s a 111.11% increase in condo sales month over month. Now, we already touched a lot on this in the paragraph above, but we are surprised to see such a substantial increase month over month, especially when the weather is getting cooler. What do we attribute this to? Of course, nothing is as simple as one explanation, but when we look at how pre-approvals work, we know that they are only valid for a certain amount of time. Some buyers may be rushing to buy and close before their pre-approvals expire and others may be capitalizing on the lower prices, decreased competition and surplus of inventory. When we look at sales volume later on in this post, we’ll better understand why condo sales decreased year over year and increased month over month.
To sum it up, condo sales in November decreased year over year and increased month over month and the number of buyers confident enough to make their biggest lifetime purchase was a larger number than expected, despite the cooler weather, lack of demand, surplus in inventory and increased interest rates.
Sales volume tells us part of the story. Let’s look at prices. Did values increase, remain the same or decrease from November 2021 to November 2022? Let’s take a look at the average sale price for all types of condo sales year over year.
The average sale price in November 2022 was $645,147 on the 19 sales. The average sale price for the sales in November 2021 was $820,274. A 21.35% year over year decrease in sale prices. Now, this puts the number of year over year transactions into perspective. Last month, we saw that there was a substantial decrease in the number of transactions with an unusual increase in sale prices year over year. Now, this makes sense. If prices are higher year over year and interest rates are largely greater than they’ve been in some time, this is going to result in very little transactions. This month, we saw that year over year the prices decreased (as expected) and the number of transactions also decreased, but not to the extent we’ve seen in the past couple of months.
The average sale price in November 2022 was $645,147 on the 19 sales. The average sale price for the sales in November 2021 was $820,274. A 21.35% year over year decrease in sale prices. Now, this puts the number of year over year transactions into perspective. Last month, we saw that there was a substantial decrease in the number of transactions with an unusual increase in sale prices year over year. Now, this makes sense. If prices are higher year over year and interest rates are largely greater than they’ve been in some time, this is going to result in very little transactions. This month, we saw that year over year the prices decreased (as expected) and the number of transactions also decreased, but not to the extent we’ve seen in the past couple of months.
Now, what about sales volume month-over-month? The average sale price in October 2022 was $858,333 on the 9 sales. A 24.84% month over month decrease in sale price. The year over year and month over month decrease was almost equivalent. This is more consistent with the picture we’ve been seeing the last couple months (minus September vs October where there a was a surprising increase in sales volume). It makes sense, though, when you think about it. If prices drop an almost 25% month over month, buyers are going to take advantage of the price drop, even if interest rates are high. It’s also important to take into account that smaller 1 bedrooms largely made up the sales volume in November 2022 whereas large 2 bedrooms comprised the October 2022 sales volume. The differential in sales volume will look larger because of this data, so it is important to look at the numbers critically. So, while a 25% month over month increase is a big one, we have to offset that by the types of condos that sold and how that differs month over month.
The Liberty Village condo market for November 2022 has proven to be a rollercoaster ride. From September to October to November, we’ve been down then up then back down again.
Any predictions for the rest of the Winter and early Spring market? Let us know in the comments below.
Curious how November 2022 differed from the year before? Take a look back at our post for the Liberty Village condo stats in November 2021.
If you have any specific questions about the market or are curious as to how this relates to your Liberty Village condo, get in touch. You can fill out our Condo Value Form or send us an email.
