A surge in home sales in May was welcome, but surprising, news to the Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors (CKAR).
May residential sales were up more than 28 per cent compared to May of 2024, as 150 units changed hands.
What’s more telling, is May sales were 2.5 per cent above the five- and 10-year averages for the fifth month of the year.
The hot month, after several months of sluggish sales, managed to push the year to date numbers above the same snapshot period of 2024.
Barbara McCaughrin, president of CKAR, said the bump has balanced the market.
“Sales posted an unexpectedly strong bounce in May after remaining subdued for the previous several months,” she said in a media release. “New listings have been on the rise and so have overall inventory levels, which means the market has been flirting with buyer’s territory for quite some time. May’s boost in demand pushed us firmly back into a balanced market, but whether this is the beginning of a stronger return from buyers or simply a one-off event remains to be seen.”
The average price of homes sold in May 2025 was $432,419, a small gain of 1.1 per cent from May 2024.
The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $432,335, increasing by 2.2 per cent from the first five months of 2024.
The dollar value of all home sales in May 2025 was $64.9 million, a gain of 29.6 per cent from the same month in 2024.
The number of new listings was up by 4.1 per cent (11 listings) from May 2024.
There were 281 new residential listings in May 2025. This was the largest number of new listings added in the month of May in more than a decade.
In fact, new listings were 5.6 per cent above the five-year average and 20.9 per cent above the 10-year average for the month of May.
Active residential listings numbered 502 units on the market at the end of May, numbers not seen in a decade, McCaughrin said.
