A home with sold sign. File photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo / ElenathewiseA home with sold sign. File photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo / Elenathewise
Midwestern

Huron Perth home prices rise, but sales level off

The Huron Perth Association of REALTORS® reported that MLS® home sales in May have returned to more typical levels. The number of homes sold totaled 214 units in May 2022. This was a decline of 14.1% from May 2021.

Home sales were 3.1% above the five-year average and 0.9% above the 10-year average for the month of May. On a year-to-date basis, home sales totaled 883 units over the first five months of the year. This was a decline of 9.2% from the same period in 2021.

Association Vice President Bob Heimpel says home sales are trending at average levels for this time of year, but it's still a buyers market, as bidding wars continue.

"Some properties are seeing that, others may not see it right away or anything like that. We're starting to see properties sitting on the market a little longer than just that week, type of deal. But yes, the bidding wars are still quite active," he explained.

The overall MLS® HPI composite benchmark price was $649,700 in May 2022, up by 23.2% compared to May 2021.

"It's very difficult for many of those first time buyers to keep a property in their price range. We found them jumping up above what they could actually afford," he added.

Heimpel is a Real Estate Broker with Royal LePage Don Hamilton Real Estate Brokerage in Listowel.

The average price of homes sold in May 2022 was $685,082, up by 10.7% from May 2021. The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $728,333, an increase of 27.7% from the first five months of 2021. The dollar value of all home sales in May 2022 was $146.6 million, a moderate decrease of 4.9% from the same month in 2021.

“Home sales were trending at average levels for this time of year, which is a decline from the record May we saw in 2021 but still quite solid considering many other markets in the province are currently posting below-average levels of activity,” said Julie Heitbohmer, President of the Huron Perth Association of REALTORS®. “The surge in new listings was a welcome sight as some much-needed supply returned to the market. However, with demand still being as strong as it is, overall supply levels continue trending near historical lows and it will take more than one month of stronger new listings to have any meaningful impact on the market balance.”

The number of new listings saw a substantial gain of 31% from May 2021. There were 389 new residential listings in May 2022. This was the largest number of new listings added in the month of May in more than five years. New listings were 28.8% above the five-year average and 18.5% above the 10-year average for the month of May.  Active residential listings numbered 317 units on the market at the end of May, an advance of 59.3% from the end of May 2021. Active listings were 13.3% below the five-year average and 54.9% below the 10-year average for the month of May.

Months of inventory numbered 1.5 at the end of May 2022, up from the 0.8 months recorded at the end of May 2021 and below the long-run average of 3.4 months for this time of year. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.

Read More Local Stories