Real estate in Waterloo Region: Home sales and prices increased in July

Home sales in the Region of Waterloo jumped in July.

“As a buyer, you have a choice of inventory,” said local real estate broker Tony Johal.

According to the Cornerstone Association of Realtors, 639 homes were snapped up last month, marking a 4.6 per cent increase from July 2023. Those sales included 382 detached homes, 126 townhomes, 82 condominium units and 48 semi-detached homes.

Johal said conditions are great for home hunters.

“You have lots of homes out there to pick from,” he explained. “The other thing is buyers in the market, they can actually get their conditions put in there: the home inspection, their financing. They can actually get the inspection put in there and then, on top of that, they can get a deal on the property.”

Comparing prices

The average price of a detached home was $914,469, up 1.6 per cent from June 2024.

“The homes that are $500,000, $600,000, maybe even up to $700,000, those are the homes that are getting a lot of activity,” Johal said.

For semi-detached homes, the average sale price was $667,063 and apartment-style condos averaged $494,897.

Townhomes averaged $617,062 in July.

“That market has stayed rather competitive,” said Christal Moura, a spokesperson for the Cornerstone Association of Realtors. “There’s not the same turnover that we would see, where other ones are reacting because the inventory has gone up.”

Local inventory

Cornerstone’s latest reports shows 1,391 new listings in Waterloo Region were added to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) system in July. That’s a 15.9 per cent rise from one year ago and a 27.5 per cent increase compared to the 10-year average for the month.

The association also said it took an average of 22 days to sell a home in July.

Key takeaway

Johal is seeing more predictable buying behaviours after a turbulent few years.

Cornerstone, meantime, said many potential home buyers are adopting a wait-and-see approach. They could be anticipating more interest rate decreases, better buying conditions or a more stabilized real estate market.