After months of staying patient, buyers made their move last month and took advantage of a real estate market that tilted in their favor.
After months of staying patient, buyers made their move last month and took advantage of a real estate market that tilted in their favor.
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Home sales spiked 44.7 per cent in Huron-Perth from the same period in 2023 after 191 homes changed hands, which beat short- and long-term averages for October.
“Sales activity roared back to life in October, surpassing expectations of a mild continued recovery by not only exceeding average levels for this time of year but also notching the fifth best October in history,” said Bonnie Looby, president of the OnePoint Association of Realtors that represents Huron, Perth, Grey, Bruce, Wellington, Georgian Bay, Simcoe, Parry Sound, Haliburton and Muskoka.
Buyers had plenty of options, as 308 homes were listed last month, the most ever for October and a 14.5 per cent jump from a year ago. There were 795 homes on the market at the end of October, a 21 per cent increase from the same period in 2023 and the most for the month in more than five years.
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“Sellers have taken note of the return of buyers to the market and listed their homes at the most aggressive pace of any October on record,” Looby said. “With demand surging as much as it did, the monthly balance of inventories has taken a step downward, although one month on its own does not make a trend. We’ll be monitoring the situation through the remainder of the year to see if buyers continue to return in greater numbers and how sellers respond if they do.”
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 $587,500, up 4.4 per cent on a year-over-year basis in October. By comparison, the benchmark apartment price was $511,700, a small gain of 1.8 per cent from year-ago levels.
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The average price of homes sold in October 2024 was $656,970, a gain of 8.9 per cent from October 2023. For the year, buyers are paying an average of $625,670, nearly unchanged from the first 10 months of 2023.
Months of inventory numbered 4.2 at the end of October 2024, down from the five months recorded at the end of October 2023 and above the long-run average of 3.1 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.
Local data mirrored the national trend as home sales were up 7.7 per cent across Canada and reached its highest level since April 2022.
“The jump in home sales last month was definitely an October surprise, although with the big interest rate cut of 50 basis points announced during the last week of the month, the increase was more likely related to the surge in new listings we saw in September ,” Canadian Real Estate Association senior economist Shaun Cathcart said. “There probably won’t be another rush of new supply like that until next spring, and at that point, mortgage rates should be close to their expected lows, as well. With that in mind, you can think of the October numbers as a sort of preview for what we might expect to see next year.”
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