Residential non-waterfront sales activity recorded through the MLS® system of Muskoka Haliburton Orillia – The Lakelands Association of REALTORS® numbered 155 units in February 2017, up 18.3% from February 2016. This was a new record for the month.

On a year-to-date basis residential non-waterfront sales (249) were running 12.2% above the first two months of 2016. This was also a record for the period.

Sales of waterfront properties rose 12.8% to 44 units in February 2017. This was above both the five and 10-year averages for the month and the highest since 2002.

On a year-to-date basis waterfront sales were up 1.2% from the same period in 2016. This was also the highest since 2002.

“Non-waterfront sales activity has started 2017 at a record-breaking pace, and waterfront sales are running at a 15-year high,” said Mike Taylor, President of Muskoka Haliburton Orillia – The Lakelands Association of REALTORS®. “Supply continues to fall, which is leading to an acceleration in prices for those listings that are for sale. Should currently trends persist, that shortage of supply could potentially also start to bite into those record sales figures.”

The median price for residential non-waterfront property sales was a record $315,000 in February 2017, jumping 39.4% from February 2016.

The median price for waterfront sales was $386,250 in February 2017, rising 24.4% from February 2016.

The dollar value of all residential non-waterfront sales in February 2017 totalled $51.8 million, leaping 61.8% from February 2016. This was a record for the month of February and marked the first February to reach more than $40 million.

The total value of waterfront sales was $19.6 million, edging down 2.2% from February last year.

Residential non-waterfront sales activity recorded through the MLS® system of Muskoka Haliburton Orillia – The Lakelands Association of REALTORS® numbered 130 units in February 2016, were up 23.8 per cent from February 2015. This was just one sale short of the February record set in 2004.

Sales of waterfront properties rose by 2.6 per cent year-over-year to reach 39 units in February 2016. This was the highest February level since 2002.

“Demand for both waterfront and non-waterfront properties remained strong in February, with sales figures for both coming in at their highest levels in over a decade,” said Tom Wilkinson, President of Muskoka Haliburton Orillia – The Lakelands Association of REALTORS®. “As per usual at this time of the year, lower winter sales volumes, particularly for waterfront properties, are playing havoc with average and median price measures.”

The median price for residential non-waterfront property sales was $225,500 in February 2016, up 0.2 per cent from February 2015.

The median price for waterfront sales was $310,500 in February 2016, down 16.6 per cent from February 2015.

The dollar value of all residential non-waterfront sales in February 2016 totalled $31.7 million, up 29.9 per cent from February 2015. This was the highest dollar volume of any February on record.

The total value of waterfront sales was $20 million, down eight per cent from February last year.