Chatham-Kent inventory low…Beat the spring rush to market

Residential sales activity recorded through the MLS® System of the Chatham-Kent Association of REALTORS® numbered 57 units in January 2016, down five per cent (three sales) on a year-over-year basis. “Residential sales in January 2016 were fairly average for the month coming in just a handful of sales below the five and 10-year January stats,” said Barb Phillips, President of the Chatham-Kent Association of REALTORS®. “Inventories are nevertheless are running at some of the lowest levels since the late 1990s, so there is the potential for further upward price pressure this year. With interest rates at an all time low, now is the time to beat the spring rush if you are thinking of buying or selling.” The average price of homes sold in January 2016 was $153,204, up 1.2 per cent from January 2015. New listings numbered 169 units in January, a decrease of 5.3 per cent from the same month last year. There were 482 active residential listings on the Association’s MLS® System at the end of January 2016. This was down six per cent from January 2015.

There were 8.5 months of inventory at the end of January 2016, unchanged from a year earlier and well below 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, but many are selling much quicker.