Chatham-Kent home sales set new all-time record in May

Residential sales activity recorded through the MLS® System of the Chatham-Kent Association of REALTORS® numbered 172 units in May 2017, up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. It was the highest sales figure ever recorded. On year-to-date basis, home sales totalled 591 units over the first five months of the year, rising 5% from the same period in 2016.

“The local housing market remains very strong, with more homes bought and sold in May 2017 than in any other month in history,” said Kristi Willder, President of the Chatham-Kent Association of REALTORS®. “At the same time active listings are at record lows. As a result, the average home price in the region topped the $200,000 mark for the first time in May.” The average price of homes sold in May 2017 was $208,435, up 20.6% from May 2016. The year-to-date average price was $188,773, rising 16.7% from the first five months of last year.

New listings numbered 235 units in May, down 16.9% from the same month in 2016. This was well below historical averages for this time of year. There were just 329 active residential listings on the Association’s MLS® System at the end of May 2017. This was a record-low for this time of year, down 37.7% from May 2016.

There were just 1.9 months of inventory at the end of May 2017, down from 3.2 months reported a year earlier and below the long-run average 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.