(Submitted photo from the Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors)(Submitted photo from the Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors)
Chatham

December homes sales in CK mark new record

The real-estate market in Chatham-Kent was red hot to end 2020 as the number of homes sold and the average price both broke a record for the month of December.

The Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors marked a new sales record for the month of December after 85 units were sold last month, which is an increase of 37.1 per cent compared to December 2019.

The price for those homes also went up as the average price of homes sold in December was a record $344,951, an increase of 27.8 per cent  from December 2019. The annual average price was $310,244, which is an increase of 23.4 per from 2019.

“Buyer fatigue due to competing offers, was a contributing factor,” said Laura Tourangeau, incoming president of the Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors.

Looking at 2020 as a whole, 1,344 homes were sold which is a slight increase of one per cent from 2019. The total dollar amount associated with all homes sold last month was $29.3 million, which is a 75.2 per cent increase from the same time period in 2019.

Although the number of new listing went up slightly in December it was not enough to keep up with demand. There were 76 homes that went on the market last month which is up 2.7 per cent compared to December 2019.

"Once again, new listings could not keep up with the pace of sales in December, reducing overall inventory to below 100 homes for the first time in over 30 years," said Tourangeau. "The current lack of active listings is acting as a constraint on our local market, sustaining some of the tightest market conditions we have ever seen in our region.”

There were 48.2 per cent fewer active listings by the end of last month compared to what was seen in December 2019. Tourangeau said it has been more than 25 years since the number of active listings seen in the month of December have been that low.

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