A modest bump in home sales last month is a sign buyers are once again getting comfortable in the local real estate market, the Huron Perth Association of Realtors president said.
A modest bump in home sales last month is a sign buyers are once again getting comfortable in the local real estate market, the Huron Perth Association of Realtors president said.
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Ninety-four homes changed hands in the region last month, seven more than in January 2023 but slightly below five- and 10-year averages.
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“Overall inventories have been continuously on the rise since bottoming out at the beginning of 2022, buoyed by a healthy influx of new listings,” said Teresa Ondrejicka, president of the Huron Perth Association of Realtors. “While sellers have been out in force, it appears that buyers are finally taking their first steps off the sidelines and back into the market.
“Provided there are no other major unforeseen shocks to the economy or interest rates, it’s more likely that we’ll begin to see a slow and steady recovery unfold through the remainder of the year.”
The benchmark price – the value of a “typical” home in a community, based on the most popular combination of features – for single-family homes last month was up slightly from a year ago to $547,600. By comparison, the benchmark apartment price of $461,800 was down 2.6 per cent from year-ago levels.
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The average price of homes sold in January 2024 was $616,389, a gain of 5.2 per cent from January 2023.
The number of new listings last month jumped nearly 20 per cent to 172, which was the most in January in more than five years. New listings were 21.5 per cent above the 10-year average for the month.
The influx of new listings led to 465 homes still on the market at the end of January, a substantial gain of 44 per cent from the end of last January and the highest for the month in more than five years.
Months of inventory numbered 4.9 at the end of January 2024, up from the 3.7 months recorded at the end of January 2023 and above the long-run average of 4.3 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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