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Chatham

Hot Summer For CK Real Estate

Things are looking up in the Chatham-Kent real estate market.

According to the Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors (CKAR), there was a large year-over-year increase in sales in July of this year. CKAR says 123 units were sold, which is an increase of 28.1% from July 2017.

CKAR President Steve Carroll says there are a few reasons the market has been picking up.

"We're still seeing a fair number of people coming from outside of Chatham-Kent to this area for a number of reasons," explains Carroll. "The price of housing is obviously the main one, the other is climate and close proximity to large centres."

According to CKAR, there were 232 active residential listings at the end of July. This was down 28.4% from the end of July 2017, marking the lowest level on record for this month.

Caroll says many homes are selling very close to or over asking price, because of competition in the market due to the low inventory.

"The average price of homes right now, and again this is year-to-date, which more than a monthly figure, is just under $206,000. That's about almost 12% above where we were this time last year for the year to date," he says.

He thinks Chatham-Kent will keep trending higher, so for right now, it's probably a better time to sell than buy.

"When that would end or if that will end, who knows. None of us have a crystal ball, but there's certainly no indication that things are going to slow down," says Carroll. "Once we get through the summer, we may see more inventory come on the market, which would certainly be a benefit to buyers. Right now, the market probably favours sellers more than buyers."

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