The Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors (CKAR) is reporting that local home sales are starting to see signs of life after a slow start to the year.
On Monday, CKAR said 103 homes were sold last month, which is a decline of 28.5 per cent from March 2022, 16 per cent below the five-year average, and seven per cent below the 10-year average for the month of March.
Local realtors have sold a total of 221 homes during the first three months of the year, also a sharp decrease of 40.3 per cent from the same period last year, according to the real estate association.
However, homes listed for sale in March went up by 10.6 per cent from March 2022. CKAR said the 219 new listings last month was the largest number of new listings added in the month of March in more than a decade. New listings were 27.5 per cent above the five-year average and 28.7 per cent above the 10-year average for the month of March, according to CKAR.
CKAR also noted a total of 338 homes are for sale in the Chatham-Kent market, which is more than double what was available at this time a year ago -- a surge of 218.9 per cent from the end of March 2022.
"Home sales reported for March, although down from last year, showed a significant increase from February. This indicates that the market is starting to bounce back after a slow start to the year," said CKAR President Matt Bechard. "The number of newly listed homes was up from March 2022. This is welcome news for potential buyers as it means there is a larger pool of available homes to choose from. The increase in sales and new listings demonstrates that the market is gaining momentum as the spring season gets underway. Market conditions in our region remained in balanced territory, neither in favour of buyers nor sellers. Our local market remains competitive as well-kept and appropriately priced homes are being snapped up quickly. It is reasonable to expect that a clearer path forward will emerge as we move through the spring months and into the summer."
The average price of homes sold in March 2023 was $415,430, down by 20.6 per cent from the average sale price of $523,526 in March 2022.
Local realtors sold a total of $42.8 million worth of homes last month, which is down 43.2 per cent from the same month in 2022.
By comparison, realtors in Chatham-Kent sold 61 homes in February totaling $26 million, which was down on both fronts from February 2022.
