The 2024 real estate market in Barrie, Ontario has been quite steady so far. Buyers chose to hold off on purchasing property until they had a better idea for what the Bank of Canada was going to do about the interest rates. As the year progressed, inventory continued to increase which put downward pressure on prices and caused the average sale price to come down.
The first quarter of 2024 was the slowest quarter in terms of units sold, so far this year. There were 82 units that sold which took an average of 47 days to sell and the average sale price recorded was $521,923. However, that being said, inventory was at its lowest during the first quarter. Barrie started off the year with 105 condominiums for sale in January and closed the first quarter off with 130 units for sale.
If there were more active buyers in the market at the beginning of the year, there would have been the potential to close the gap between the supply and demand. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Demand remained low and inventory continued to slowly increase.
As Barrie moved through the second quarter, the average sale price increased slightly to $550,278, and condos were taking less time to sell. There were 115 condominium units that sold in an average of 33 days on market.
At the beginning of the second quarter there were 157 condos for sale in Barrie and by June, there were already 195. This was almost double the number of condos available compared to January. One of the main reasons the inventory increased so quickly in such a short period of time was because the sellers that did not have luck selling in 2023, chose to wait and re-list in the spring market of 2024. These previous sellers combined with new sellers flooded the market with its supply.
In the third quarter, there were a total of 89 condominium units that sold in Barrie. These units took an average of 41 days to sell and recorded an average sale price of $532,995. By the end of Q3-2024, the average sale price had gone back down to where the market was in the fall of 2021 and 2022.
The three main reasons why the Barrie condo market has been slow so far in 2024:
1. There was still uncertainty in the market as buyers waited to see if prices were going to continue to come down.
2. Condo supply was at its highest and buyers were taking their time with making their decision.
3. There was no huge urgency from buyers as they are still waiting for the next announcement from the Bank of Canada on October 23rd, 2024, prior to purchasing.
Lastly, let's isolate September’s numbers.
Last month there were a total of 24 condo apartments that sold in Barrie and only 5 condo townhouses. The average sale price for a condo apartment was $514,663 and units took an average of 44 days to sell. The average days on market to sell a condo townhouse last month was 45 and the average sale price was $519,000. If Barrie were to continue to follow the most recent market trends, the market will most likely continue to slow over the winter.
There are a total of 234 condominiums for sale in Barrie, Ontario; 170 condo apartments, 45 condo townhouses, and 19 leasehold condos.
FOR SALE - 1 Bedroom condo in the Elgin Bay Club on the serene shores of Lake Couchiching in Orillia CLICK HERE
FOR SALE - Modern 3 bedroom condo townhouse in the sought after Wasaga Heights in Wasaga Beach CLICK HERE
*All stats are based on listings sold with the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board