They say that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
And while we can't confirm a direct familial relation between the Kawartha Lakes real estate scene and that of Muskoka Region, there's clearly some kind of "impressive activity" gene running through the veins of cottage country.
According to new data from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), the number of homes sold through the MLS System of the Kawartha Lakes Real Estate Association Inc. totaled 74 units in January 2021, increasing 42.3% over January 2020.
"Residential sales haven't hit this level in the month of January in more than a decade," the report says. In fact, the last time they hit this level was in January of 2007, 14 years ago.
CREA reports there residential listings, too, were up year-over-year, in this case by 7.5%; last month's new listings numbered exactly 100. By the end of the month, there were 76 active residential listing units counted, which shows a decline of 66.1% from the end of the same month in 2020 and -- in fact -- a 30-year low.
"Active listings haven't been this low in the month of January in more than three decades," the report says.
Meanwhile, Months of Inventory (MOI) -- the number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity -- was down from the 4.3 months noted at the end of January 2020, reaching 1 last month.
This count also stands below the "long-run" average of 5.4 months for this time of year.
Where costs are concerned, the MLS Home Price Index (HPI) -- which tracks price trends far more accurately than is possible using average or median price measures -- shows the overall composite/single-family benchmark price to be $494,800, up 29.2% from January 2020.
The dollar-value of all home sales more than doubled those of the same month last year (+100.9%), reaching $46.4 million and setting a new record for January.
Indeed, it appears as though just as Muskoka is on a wild ride of impressive real estate activity, so too is Kawartha Lakes.
It was still January when our cottage country intel predicted the region could see its tightest market in years through 2021, and already, the data looks to be catching up to this premonition.
