July was a sizzler of a month, and not just in terms of temperature.
According to Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors (CKAR) numbers, home sales last month were up nearly 17 per cent from July of 25, and reached transaction numbers that realtors have not seen locally in half a decade.
A total of 133 units changed hands in July. That’s 12 per cent above the five-year average and 2.2 per cent ahead of the 10-year average.
Carrie Patrick, president of CKAR, said the numbers were positive all around.
“Sales activity was up on a year-over-year basis in July, while new listings remained historically elevated and notched the highest July on record. Overall inventories have generally been rising over the past four years, and our local market is recently more often in buyer’s territory than it is balanced,” she said in a media release.
The July sales boost managed to help total sales over the first seven months of 2026 to keep pace with the same period last year.
Patrick said affordable housing efforts around the municipality are welcome additions to local housing inventory.
“On another note, a new affordable housing project in Wallaceburg was announced in July. This will add 72 units to Chatham-Kent’s housing supply and is expected to take roughly two years to complete,” she said.
In terms of price per home sold, realtor numbers indicated the homes sold in July averaged $410,946, down 7.5 per cent from July 2025.
However, looking at year-to-date figures, the average price was $439,878, a small gain of one per cent from the first seven months of 2025.
As for new listings, the number was up by one home compared to July 2025. However, with 277 new residential listings in July, this was the largest number of new listings added in the month of July in history.
New listings were 3.5 per cent above the five-year average and 21 per cent above the 10-year average for the month of July.
