Chatham-Kent home sales post above-average September

Residential sales activity recorded through the MLS® System of the Chatham-Kent Association of REALTORS® numbered 111 units in September 2015, down 12.5 per cent from the record September last year. On a year-to-date basis home sales numbered 999 units, running 5.2 per cent ahead of the first three quarters of 2014. This was the best figure since 2008. “While down from a record month of September last year, home sales activity remains strong in the Chatham-Kent region, with activity this September running above both the five and 10-year averages for the month,” said Jamie Winkler, President of the ChathamKent Association of REALTORS®. “With solid demand and shrinking supply, the market has become more favourable to sellers.”

The average price of homes sold in September 2015 was $164,391, up 8.6 per cent from September 2014. The less volatile year-to-date average sale price was $159,083, an increase of 3.2 per cent from 2014. New listings numbered 188 units in September, a decline of 12.1 per cent from the same month last year. There were 611 active residential listings on the Association’s MLS® System at the end of September 2015. This was down 9.5 per cent from September 2014. There were 5.5 months of inventory at the end of September 2015, up slightly from 5.3 months a year earlier but still below the long-run average for this time of the 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.