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The Chatham-Kent real estate market saw several records set last year and the trend continued in December to wrap up 2021.
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The number of homes sold through the MLS system of the Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors totaled 133 units in December, an increase of nearly 55 per cent from December 2020, setting a new sales record for the month.
Home sales were 57.6 per cent above the five-year average and 84 per cent above the 10-year average for the month of December, stated the association’s media release.
Home sales totalled a record 1,839 units over the course of the entire year, a 35 per cent increase from 2020.
“(Last year) has been a remarkable year for real estate in our region,” new association president Amber Pinsonneault said in the release. “December MLS home sales remained very strong to end the year.”
The average price of homes sold last month was $ 436,070, an increase of 26.6 per cent from December 2020. The more comprehensive annual average price was $ 419,865, which was an increase of 34.9 per cent from all of 2020, the association said.
The dollar value of all home sales in December 2021 was $ 58 million, jumping 95.8 per cent from the same month in 2020. This was also a new record for the month of December.
There were 86 new residential listings in December, a gain of 11 listings from December 2020. New listings were 16.8 per cent above the five-year average and 10.1 per cent above the 10-year average for the month of December.
“However, even though the number of newly listed properties was above average for this time of year, it was still not enough to keep pace with the unrelenting demand we have been experiencing,” Pinsonneault said. “Consequently, overall inventory has dropped to just below the lowest level on record.”
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Pinsonneault said the multiple factors of strong demand and low supply have continued to keep prices elevated near their all-time highs.
“As always, we will be monitoring our local market for any developing trends that may provide insight into what to expect in 2022,” she said.
Active residential listings numbered 72 units on the market at the end of December, a drop of 18.2 per cent from the end of December 2020. Active listings haven’t been this low in the month of December in three decades, according to the real estate association.
Active listings were 48.4 per cent below the five-year average and 74.1 per cent below the 10-year average for the month of December.
Months of inventory numbered 0.5 at the end of December 2021, down from the one month recorded at the end of December 2020 and below the long-run average of 4.8 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.