Chatham-Kent home sales post solid June; listing shortage continues

Residential sales activity recorded through the MLS® System of the Chatham-Kent Association of REALTORS® numbered 130 units in June 2018. This was down 5.8% (eight sales) from June 2017 but nonetheless stood among the better months of June in history. On a year-to-date basis, home sales totalled 629 units over the first six months of the year. This was down 9% from the same period in 2017.

“Homes sales were healthy by historical standards in June, coming in just eight sales below last June and just 15 sales below the all-time record for the month set back in 2015,” said Steve Carroll, President of the Chatham-Kent Association of REALTORS®. “We’ve been under two months of inventory for four straight months now, which has never happened before. As such, the small dip in the average price in June was likely just due to the composition of the sales mix. A market with less than two months of inventory has created a strong sellers’ market.”

The year-to-date average price was $198,975, up 5.8% from the first six months of 2017. Active residential listings numbered 206 units at the end of June. This was down 24.8% from the end of June 2017 and marked the lowest level for this month on record. Months of inventory numbered a record-low 1.6 at the end of June 2018, down from the 2 months recorded at the end of June 2017 and below the long-run average of 5.8 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.