Chatham-Kent home sales remain very solid

Residential sales activity recorded through the MLS® System of the Chatham-Kent Association of REALTORS® numbered 121 units in March 2018. This was up 6.1% (or seven sales) from March 2017. On a year-to-date basis, home sales totalled 247 units over the first three months of the year. This was a decrease of 13.9% from the same period in 2017. “More homes traded hands in March 2018 than during any other month of March in the last 12 years, marking a huge turnaround from just two months ago when activity plunged briefly to a four-year low,” said Steve Carroll, President of the Chatham-Kent Association of REALTORS®. “With demand springing back to life, inventories were pulled down to a fresh all-time low. As such, prices could begin to re-accelerate, although it may be tough for the average price to match some of the extreme values recorded last spring and summer.”

The average price of homes sold in March 2018 was $188,296, edging down 3.7% from March 2017. The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $184,321, this was little changed, up just 0.4%, from the first three months of 2017. There were 149 new residential listings in March 2018. This was down 5.7% (or nine listings) on a year-over-year basis and was the lowest March level since 1989.

Active residential listings numbered 194 units at the end of March. This was down 24.2% from the end of March 2017 and marked the lowest level on record by a large margin.