Chatham-Kent home sales rebound in March, from a quiet February

Residential sales activity recorded through the MLS® System of the Chatham-Kent Association of REALTORS® numbered 100 units in March 2019. This was a decrease of 13% (15 sales) from a very strong March in 2018. On a year-to-date basis, home sales totalled 239 units over the first three months of the year, up a slight 0.8% (two sales) from the same period in 2018.

“Sales activity bounced back to average levels in March following a brief dip in February,” said Steve Carroll, President of the Chatham-Kent Association of REALTORS®. “It looks like these fluctuations in sales are more a supply story than a demand story. Given how few homes are out there for sale, monthly sales figures seem to be very much influenced when new listings become available. The competition among buyers for limited listings is evident in the behaviour of prices, which have been posting huge gains of late.”

The comprehensive year-to-date average price was $238,332, up 31.7% from the first three months of 2018. There were 150 new residential listings in March 2019, an increase of 18.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Active residential listings numbered just 199 units at the end of March, up 2.6% (five listings) from the end of March 2018. The long-term average for inventories at this time of the year is over 550.

Months of inventory numbered just 2 at the end of March 2019, up from the 1.7 months recorded at the end of March 2018 but still well below the long-run average of 6.3 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.