The number of homes being sold in Chatham-Kent has plummeted as the housing market continues to rebalance itself.
The Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors said a total of 116 homes were sold in July, which was a significant reduction of 32.2 per cent compared to July of last year. Home sales last month were also 17.5 per cent lower than the five-year average and 10.9 per cent below the 10-year average for the month of July.
Amber Pinsonneault, president of the realtors association, attributed the decline to higher mortgage rates and uncertainty in the market.
“There’s been quite a bit of rebalancing in the market as inventories have risen from rock-bottom levels and new supply is now trending at record levels,” said Pinsonneault in a news release. “We expect overall inventories to continue rising in the near term as buyers adapt to new affordability constraints.”
Inventory also remains high with the number of listings up by 25.5 per cent last month, compared to the same time last year. Last month also marked the largest number of new listings added in the month of July in the association’s history.
There were a total of 351 active listings on the market at end of July, a 130.9 per cent increase compared to July 2021.
Despite the significant increase in the number of homes on the market, the average price of the homes sold last month increased by 20.1 per cent to $493,103.