Two real estate records have been broken in Chatham-Kent.
The Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors said local real estate agents had the best October sales on record but they also have record low housing available for sale, which is pushing up prices.
The association said 138 homes were bought in October, which is a 12.2 per cent increase or 15 sales from October of 2018.
“Home sales set another new monthly record in October, following right on the heels of September’s record,” said Steve Carroll, president of the Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors. “The strength of the market in the last couple of months is surprising only because of how few listings are out there for sale right now. The imbalance between supply and demand continues to push prices higher.”
The average price of a home sold in October 2019 was $247,139, up 9.6 per cent from a year ago. The year-to-date average price was $251,558, a jump of 18.7 per cent from the first 10 months of 2018.
The association said October had 148 homes up for sale. That was a decrease of 10.8 per cent from last October. There were 212 homes up or sale at the end of October, a 14.2 per cent drop from this time last year.
"Despite traditionally slow sales in the winter, record low inventory make it a great time to sell your home," the association said in a news release issued on Thursday morning.
So far this year 1,173 homes have been sold, which is up 4.7 per cent from the same period in 2018.
"Activity is currently on track to be the second-best year on record, although 2019 is only trailing 2016 by about 30 transactions so it could still end up being a record year," said Executive Officer Janice Wieringa.