Greater Sudbury Real Estate Market in 2021: A Data-Based Retrospective

Why 2021 works as a baseline

This is the first full calendar year in the historical series, so it stands on its own rather than carrying a year-over-year percentage. That matters. Calling a year “up” or “down” without a like-for-like prior period can make a simple table sound more conclusive than it is.

The 2021 records establish four measurements that can be followed consistently in later annual articles: listing events, sold close events, median close price and the median sale-to-export-list ratio. Each answers a different question. None describes the entire market by itself.

The 2021 numbers in this analysis

Listing events and closing events are not a conversion funnel

The 2,791 listing events and 2,486 sold close events come from different date tests. A property could be listed late in one year and close in the next. Another record could close in 2021 after being listed earlier. Dividing one count by the other would create a sell-through or conversion figure that this evidence does not support.

The useful reading is simpler: the registered exports contain those two kinds of dated activity in 2021. Later articles can compare each event cohort with the same cohort in another full year.

What the $360,050 median does—and does not—mean

A median is the middle close-price observation after the records are ordered from lower to higher. It is not the average, a CREA benchmark price or proof that an individual home gained a particular amount of value.

Property mix matters. The thresholded property-type table contains 2,353 house close records with a $365,000 median. Smaller threshold-qualified groups included apartments, mobile homes, recreational properties and row or townhouse records. The overall $360,050 median therefore reflects the mix of records in this cohort, with houses representing most of the thresholded observations.

How to read the 105.16% sale-to-export-list ratio

The median paired record closed at 105.16% of the ListPrice field contained in the export. The field is not proven to be the original list price, so this measure cannot be renamed “sale-to-original-list.” It also does not mean every property sold above its export list price.

The ratio is useful as a consistent field relationship in this historical series. It cannot establish the frequency of multiple offers, bidding wars or any particular negotiation strategy.

How buyers and sellers can use a 2021 retrospective

For sellers

Use the year as context, not as a pricing shortcut. A current pricing decision still depends on recent comparable properties, condition, location, competing inventory and the timing of the planned sale.

For buyers

Use the ratio and price figures to understand that market conditions can change materially across years. A current offer should be based on today’s comparable evidence and the specific property—not on an assumption that a 2021 pattern still applies.

For homeowners planning ahead

Keep the baseline available when reading later annual updates. The most useful comparison is measure against the same measure, using the same registered-cohort definitions and full-year periods.

Common questions about the 2021 figures

Was $360,050 the average sale price?

No. It was the median close price. The average close price in the cohort was $403,597, but the median is emphasized because averages are more sensitive to high-value observations and property mix.

Did every recorded property sell for 105.16% of list price?

No. That was the median ratio among paired records. Individual results varied.

Do these figures cover every Greater Sudbury sale?

No. The analysis uses nine registered, geographically partitioned MLS exports. Completeness against every municipal or board-wide record has not been proven.

Methodology and limits

The MLS records included in this analysis use ListingContractDate for listing events and valid CloseDate plus a positive ClosePrice for sold close events. Close fields define the sold cohort because LastStatus is not a reliable terminal status in the registered exports. Price calculations exclude values outside the Analytics plausibility rules. Property-type details appear only where the annual sold-record count met the privacy and stability threshold of 20.