WATERLOO -- Year-to-date home sales in Kitchener-Waterloo have soared by more than 65 per cent compared to the same period in 2020, new figures show.

In the second quarter, April, May and June, residential sales were up 83.7 per cent compared to last year, according to statistics from the Kitchener-Waterloo Association of Realtors (KWAR).

“The number of homes sold in the Kitchener-Waterloo area these past 6 months surpasses any previous 6 months of activity through our MLS System,” Nicole Pohl, president of KWAR, said in a release. “Since the beginning of the year, we have reported 4,393 home sales in Kitchener-Waterloo and area, which is remarkable.”

In June alone, 740 residential homes sold, setting a new monthly record and marking a 10.1 per cent jump up from the same month in 2020.

But the June figures marked a dip from May of this year, with the total number of properties changing hands dropping off by 13.6 per cent.

“The greatest challenge of the housing market continues to be the limited supply of existing homes to purchase,” Pohl said. “What we could use right now is for more homes to get built to help meet the robust buyer demand which continues to exceed supply.”

Despite fewer residential properties selling, prices held steady in June, with the biggest increase coming among detached homes.

The average sale price of all residential properties in the Kitchener-Waterloo area was $759,115. That marks a 26.4 per cent increase over June of last year and a 2.6 per cent jump from May 2021.

Here are the average prices of different property types in the region in June:

  • Detached home: $919,914, up 31.9 per cent from June 2020 and up 5.9 per cent from last month
  • Apartment-style condo: $445,493, up 19.3 per cent from June 2020 and down 2.3 per cent from last month
  • Townhouse: $590,980, up 29 per cent from June 2020 and down 1.9 per cent from last month
  • Semi-detached house: $647,918, up 28.3 per cent from June 2020 and down 1.8 per cent from last month

Last month, 860 new listings came on the market. That marks a drop of 6.6 per cent compared to the same month last year and a 5.4 per cent dip from the previous ten-year average for June.

Only 365 homes were available for sale by the end of last month, which is 73.9 per cent below the previous ten-year average of about 1,400 listings for June.

The average number of days a property stayed on the market in June was 11. That's down from 17 days in June 2020 and almost half of the previous five-year average of 20 days.