Home sales in Chatham-Kent continue to plummet, but there are many more homes to buy compared to previous years.
The Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors (CKAR) reported on Monday that home sales dropped by 39.7 per cent last month when compared to October of last year. CKAR said 105 homes were sold last month. The realtors association also reported that homes sales have declined by 23.9 per cent in the first 10 months of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, adding 1,180 homes have been sold so far this year.
According to CKAR, Chatham-Kent realtors sold a total of $40.9 million worth of homes last month, which is a decrease of 47 per cent from the same month a year ago.
"Looking through the monthly seasonal trends home sales appear to have stabilized at lower levels since bottoming out in June earlier this year. Year-over-year gains will continue to be outsized as we compare current subdued activity to record-high levels from 2021," said CKAR President Amber Pinsonneault. "New listings are trending at some of the highest levels in history. Combined with lower demand, this is providing some much-needed relief to formerly depleted inventories, which are now back up to levels not seen since the autumn of 2016."
The realtors noted the average price of homes sold in October 2022 was $389,318, which is a drop of 12.1 per cent from October 2021.
On the bright side, the association said the number of new listings jumped 24.4 per cent last month from October 2021. CKAR said 219 homes went up for sale last month, which is the largest number of new listings added in the month of October in more than a decade.
The realtors group also said there was a total of 386 homes for sale across Chatham-Kent at the end of October, which is more than double the levels from a year earlier. CKAR said active listings haven't been this high in the month of October in more than five years.