Slowest year for local home sales in more than 2 decades

A house for sale sign is shown in front of a house on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023. (File photo)

The past year was the slowest for home sales in Waterloo Region in more than two decades.

The Waterloo Region Association of Realtors (WRAR) reports just 6,623 were sold in 2023. It’s the first time annual sales dipped below 7,000 since 2000, WRAR said in its monthly report released Friday.

“While the dream of homeownership is alive, it is not quite well,” WRAR president Christal Moura said in a news release.

Moura said the local market continues to be affected by high interest rates, and the slow down in home sales “echoes the overall slowdown we are seeing in the broader economy.”

While local home sale prices have fallen to three-quarters of what they were at the peak in February 2022, average prices for all property types remains well above pre-pandemic levels.

The average single-detached home in Waterloo Region sold for $838,151 last month. The average townhouse went for $617,023 and the average sale price for a condo was $490,816. Across all property types the average sale price was $740,697 last month – that’s down five per cent from the month before and essentially flat from December of 2022.

“Housing continues to be less accessible to too many people in our region. This speaks to the pressing need for not just more housing to be built, but housing that spans all forms and economic strata, to ensure everyone has a suitable place to call home,” Moura said.

Source: Waterloo Region Association of Realtors