The roller-coaster real estate market that is Chatham-Kent went from two months of climbing to begin the year, to a plateau, and now a drop
According to figures from the Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors (CKAR), the number of homes sold in April was down nearly 15 per cent compared to April 2023 sales.
A total of 117 units changed hands last month.
That was also about eight per cent below the five-year average and 6.6 per cent below the 10-year average for the month of April.
On a year-to-date basis, 375 homes have sold through the first four months of 2024, up 10 sales, or nearly three per cent, from the first third of 2023.
Carrie Patrick, president of CKAR, said the market is still a bit sluggish in the wake of a cold fall of 2023.
“Sales activity has seen quite the turnaround since hitting a recent bottom last fall but still remains subdued when compared to historical numbers for April,” she said in a media release.
However, Patrick said sellers have returned to the market in numbers.
The number of new listings saw a substantial gain of nearly 36 per cent from April 2023. There were 270 new residential listings in April 2024. This was the largest number of new listings added in the month of April in more than five years.
New listings were 34.5 per cent above the five-year average and 28.7 per cent above the 10-year average for the month of April.
“New listings, on the other hand, are rocketing upward as sellers have been eagerly bringing their listings to the market, perhaps in anticipation of a turnaround in demand,” she said. “However, that turnaround has not yet materialized.”
Patrick believes buyers are tending to delay getting into the market until interest rates fall a bit. Just when that happens remains up in the air.
“Buyers continue to be teased with the timing of the first interest rate cut, now expected in June, and appear to be holding out for now until stronger evidence presents itself that this indeed will come to pass,” she said.
In terms of housing prices, Patrick said there are signs of improvement. The average price of homes sold in April 2024 was $454,979, up by 4.5 per cent from April 2023.
Active residential listings numbered 450 units on the market at the end of April, an advance of 37.2 per cent from the end of April 2023. Active listings haven’t been this high in the month of April in more than five years.
