Chatham-Kent home sales edge higher, BUT STILL MOST AFFORDABLE

Residential sales activity recorded through the MLS® System of the Chatham-Kent Association of REALTORS® numbered 133 units in May 2015, up 1.5 per cent (2 sales) on a year-over-year basis. “Sales activity recovered nicely in May following a slower than normal March and April,” said Jamie Winkler, President of the Chatham-Kent Association of REALTORS®. “Even though, this has been the best May in four years, home prices are still the most affordable in the region.”

On a year-to-date basis home sales numbered 459 units, right on par with the first five months of 2014. The average price of homes sold in May 2015 was $158,332, up 3.1 per cent from May 2014. The year-to-date average sale price was $156,976, an increase of 4.4 per cent from 2014. New listings numbered 243 units in May, falling 14.7 per cent from the same month last year.

There were 687 active residential listings on the Association’s MLS® System at the end of May 2015. This was down 2.1 per cent from May 2014. There were 5.2 months of inventory at the end of May 2015, down slightly from 5.4 months a year earlier and below with 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.