As the local housing market continues to balance itself, Chatham-Kent is seeing a significant decline in the number of homes sold and a slight decrease in prices.
The Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors said a total of 119 homes were sold in August, which marked a large decline of 24.7 per cent from August 2021. Year-to-date home sales also saw a decline of 19.7 per cent compared to last year, with 985 units sold in the first eight months of 2022.
Amber Pinsonneault, president of the realtors association, partially attributed the drop in sales to a rise in mortgage rates, which has “eroded affordability.”
“The slowdown in sales, coupled with an increase in inventory on the market, have brought market conditions closer to balanced levels and we are starting to see a softening in prices,” said Pinsonneault in a news release.
The association said there were 239 new residential listings last month, which was the largest number of new listings added in the month of August in 15 years.
“There are now more options to choose from for those buyers who are still looking to enter the market,” said Pinsonneault
The average price of homes sold last month was $421,638, a modest decline of 2.1 per cent from August 2021. However, the year-to-date average price was $482,108, up by 18.9 per cent from the first eight months of last year.
There were 375 active residential listings at the end of last month, which is the highest they have been in the month of August in more than five years.