Anyone who listed their home for sale this summer thinking it was the right time to cash in on a red-hot market may be finding very different conditions than they had expected.
The Kitchener-Waterloo Association of Realtors says 811 residential properties were listed for sale in July, while 558 homes were sold. On average, homes sold in July had spent 22 days on the market.
KWAR’s system handles real estate transactions in Kitchener, Waterloo, Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich.
The average sale price for July was $455,217 – a 17.4 per cent increase over July 2016, and a 49 per cent increase over July 2012.
However, the $455,217 figure represents a decrease when compared to recent months. June’s average sale price was $465,772, while May’s was $496,664 and April’s an all-time record of $512,656. The last time the average sale price was below $460,000 was January.
July’s total of 558 sales is the lowest number for that month since 2013. It’s the second straight month to record year-over-year sales declines, following a 19-month stretch of increases.
KWAR president James Craig says the numbers suggest the “extreme seller’s market” of the first half of 2017 is giving way to something more in line with the area’s usual trends.
“We’re going back to the way it was, and I think that’s good for the buyers in this market,” he says.
Looking ahead, Craig says he expects the local market to return to year-over-year price increases in the 3 per cent to 5 per cent range.
Already, he says, the market has cooled off enough that many buyers are again able to make their offers contingent on financing or home inspections.
While the sale volume in July was smaller than it had been in several months, it is typical for fewer homes to change hands in the summer months.
Down Highway 401, the Toronto Real Estate Board reported a 40 per cent drop in sale volume year-over-year, as well as a five per cent price increase.
With reporting by Marc Venema
