While home sales saw a dip in Chatham-Kent last month, real estate officials remain hopeful given other trends
While home sales saw a dip in Chatham-Kent last month, real estate officials remain hopeful given other trends.
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The number of homes sold through the MLS system of the Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors totaled 129 units in June, down 2.3 per cent from the same month in 2023.
Home sales were 6.9 per cent below the five-year average and 9.5 per cent below the 10-year average for June.
The year to date, sales totaled 621 units over the first six months. This was a decrease of 2.1 per cent from the same period in 2023.
“Sales activity was down marginally from the same time last year but is still showing signs of an improvement when looking at the monthly trend, which of late has been somewhat obscured by an almost constant sawtooth movement,” said Carrie Patrick, association president, in a release Monday.
She said new listings are still “holding strong,” calling it a positive sign that sellers have not become discouraged from the slower-than-anticipated return of buyers to the market.
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“The Bank of Canada’s first rate cut didn’t seem to spur a large number of home seekers off the sidelines, as there is still some uncertainty as to whether or when the next rate cut will appear,” Patrick said. “For those keeping a close eye on their finances, rates may need to come down a bit more before they decide to make a serious decision on an offer.”
The average price of homes sold in June was $425,245, a 3.5 per cent reduction from the same month last year. The most comprehensive year to date average price was $423,416, down 0.9 per cent from the first six months of 2023.
New listings were down 1.6 per cent from June of 2023. There were 244 new residential listings in June of this year. New listings were three per cent above the five-year average and 12.9 per cent above the 10-year average for the month.
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There were 473 active residential listings on the market at the end of June, an increase of 26.8 per cent from the end of June 2023.
Listings haven’t been this high in the month of June in more than five years.
Active listings were 56.8 per cent above the five-year average and 36.2 per cent above the 10-year average for the month of June.
Months of inventory numbered 3.7 at the end of June, up from the 2.8 months recorded at the end of June 2023 and above the long-run average of 2.5 months for this time of year.
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.
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