Tuesday, January 24, 2012

South Shore Housing Numbers Jump in 2011

Gary Mailman
More homes were sold on the South Shore last year than in 2010. Stats from the Multiple Listing Service show 895 homes were sold in 2011, a 9.5% increase from the previous year. The vice-president of the Nova Scotia Association of Realtors, Gary Mailman, says he's not surprised by the figures. He believes people are changing the way they sell their homes.
"It could have been in 2010, there could have been more private sales gone through where in 2011, there may have been less private sales and those people who used private means in the past or for sale by owner companies may have chosen to use the realtor route."
MLS stats also show 3,020 homes were listed in 2011, compared to 2,871 in 2010; an increase of 5.2%. The average price for a South Shore home in 2011 also jumped by 7.8%, to sit at $174,785. Mailman says he's not sure why the price went up. But, he says the area's waterfront properties could be helping the spike.
"The South Shore does have a number of high-priced waterfront properties and a few of those had sold in 2011 and that would help drive the price upwards as well because it is an average of all the sales on the South Shore."
Mailman says the South Shore stats affect homes from Hubbards to Shelburne.