After four straight months of falling, house prices in the Kitchener-Waterloo area showed a slight rebound in September.
According to the Kitchener-Waterloo Association of Realtors, which handles real estate transactions in those two cities as well as Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich, the average sale price was $445,079.
The average sale price bottomed out in August at $441,992 after hitting a high of $512,656 four months earlier.
Realtors’ association president James Craig says the difference may be less about homes losing value than a reflection of which homes are selling. KWAR’s figures show that homes priced between $300,000 and $399,999 accounted for 32 per cent of all sales in September – more than double their share from April – while fewer million-dollar-plus sales were recorded.
At $445,079, the average sale price was 12 per cent higher than it was in September 2016.
On the activity front, there were 470 sales recorded in the area in September – fewer than the 539 seen in September 2016, but more than in any other September in the past decade.
“We are seeing strong demand continue into the autumn,” Craig said in a press release.
When house prices and sale activity were escalating swiftly earlier this year, a lack of homes being listed for sale was commonly cited as a key factor.
According to KWAR, that issue remains a bit of a challenge. There were 843 homes listed locally as of the end of September – more than in September 2016, but less than on the same date at any other year this decade.
Detached homes made up 285 of the 470 sales recorded in September, with condos accounting for 105, semi-detached homes 38 and freehold townhouses 37. All forms of housing saw price increases over the previous September, with townhouses leading the way with a 20.9 per cent increase.
