Home sales in Grey Bruce Owen Sound dropped by 18.8% in August compared to the same month in 2020. The REALTORS® Association of Grey Bruce Owen Sound reports the number of homes sold through the MLS® System of the REALTORS® Association of Grey Bruce Owen Sound totaled 325 units in August 2021. Home sales were 5.1% below the five-year average and 1.6% below the 10-year average for the month of August. On a year-to-date basis, home sales totaled 2,470 units over the first eight months of the year. This was a gain of 15.1% from the same period in 2020.
The Association also reported the MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) tracks price trends far more accurately than is possible using average or median price measures. The overall MLS® HPI composite benchmark price was $521,700 in August 2021, a jump of 36.6% compared to August 2020. The benchmark price for single-family homes was $524,200, a substantial gain of 36.9% on a year-over-year basis in August. By comparison, the benchmark price for townhouse/row units was $430,300, an advance of 30.8% compared to a year earlier, while the benchmark apartment price was $327,600, up by 23% from year-ago levels.
The average price of homes sold in August 2021 was $642,235, up sharply by 36.6% from August 2020. The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $631,504, a substantial increase of 38.9% from the first eight months of 2020. The dollar value of all home sales in August 2021 was $208.7 million, a sizable gain of 11% from the same month in 2020. This was also a new record for the month of August.
The number of new listings saw a substantial decline of 11% from August 2020. There were 365 new residential listings in August 2021. New listings were 5.9% below the five-year average and 12.9% below the 10-year average for the month of August. Active residential listings numbered 550 units on the market at the end of August, a sharp decrease of 15.6% from the end of August 2020. Active listings haven't been this low in the month of August in more than three decades. Active listings were 37.7% below the five-year average and 67% below the 10-year average for the month of August.
Months of inventory numbered 1.7 at the end of August 2021, up from the 1.6 months recorded at the end of August 2020 and below the long-run average of 5.3 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.