Home sales in Chatham-Kent are bucking the trend seen across most of the province as new sales records were set last month and the average price of a local home topped the $400,000 mark.
The Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors (CKAR) announced a total of 152 units were sold last month, a new sales record for the month of September. It was also a gain of 10.1 per cent or 14 sales from September of 2020. The realtors association noted the dollar value of the homes sold last month was $70.5 million, also a new record for September, and an increase of 61.4 per cent from the same month in 2020.
CKAR said home sales were 17.5 per cent above the five-year average and 31.3 per cent above the 10-year average for the month of September.
"Home sales in the Chatham-Kent region defied the trend seen in most other markets across Ontario and posted a record high for September," said President Laura Tourangeau. "A large part of the uptick in sales has been the higher levels of new inventory hitting the market. Despite the rise in new listings, inventory is still well below average levels and as a result, prices continue to hit new highs."
The association noted a record of 1,379 units have been sold over the first nine months of the year, which is up by 36.1 per cent from the same period last year.
CKAR said the average price of a home sold in September 2021 was a record $463,605, an increase of 46.5 per cent from the same time a year ago.
They also said the number of new listings rose by 32.3 per cent from September 2020 with 213 new residential listings last month.
"This was the largest number of new listings added in the month of September in more than a decade," Tourangeau said.
CKAR said the housing inventory is up slightly from a year ago but it's still far below the historical average for this time of year.