Chatham-Kent Association of REALTORS® MLS® home sales continue slow and steady recovery in May

Matt Bechard President

For release

June 9, 2023

Chatham-Kent Association of REALTORS® MLS® home sales continue slow and steady recovery in May
The number of homes sold through the MLS® System of the Chatham-Kent Association of REALTORS® totaled 130 units in May 2023. This was a decline of 8.5% (12 sales) from May 2022.
Home sales were 5.7% below the five-year average and 8.1% below the 10-year average for the month of May.
On a year-to-date basis, home sales totaled 486 units over the first five months of the year. This was down sharply by 25.2% from the same period in 2022.
“Sales activity continues moving generally upward on a month-over-month basis, buoyed by very healthy levels of new listings coming onto the market,” said Matt Bechard, President of the Chatham-Kent Association of REALTORS®. “As we move past the beginning of the downturn from last year it is likely that year-over-year declines will turn into year-over-year gains for sales. On the supply side, unlike other local areas that are struggling with a lack of inventory, our market remains well-supplied for buyers who are looking for an ample selection of options from which to choose for their next home.”
The average price of homes sold in May 2023 was $435,114, a decrease of 8.6% from May 2022.
The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $426,653, a decline of 14.5% from the first five months of 2022.
The dollar value of all home sales in May 2023 was $56.6 million, falling 16.3% from the same month in 2022.
The number of new listings saw a modest gain of 2.3% (six listings) from May 2022. There were 264 new residential listings in May 2023. This was the largest number of new listings added in the month of May in more than a decade.
New listings were 19.3% above the five-year average and 20.2% above the 10-year average for the month of May.
Active residential listings numbered 356 units on the market at the end of May, up substantially by 67.1% from the end of May 2022. Active listings haven’t been this high in the month of May in more than five years.
Active listings were 53.6% above the five-year average and 2.8% above the 10-year average for the month of May.
Months of inventory numbered 2.7 at the end of May 2023, up from the 1.5 months recorded at the end of May 2022 and above the long-run average of 2.5 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.