Niagara real estate market shows signs of cooling off

Niagara’s real estate market could finally be cooling off.

Sales statistics for April published this week by the Niagara Association of Realtors shows fewer overall sales than a year earlier, as well as a significant increase in the length of time it took to sell homes throughout the region.

Meanwhile, there was a slight dip in average sale prices in that time period.

Niagara Association of Realtors president Stephen Oliver said there continues to be new homes being added to the market, noting that 979 new listings were reported in April 2018, compared to 973 in April 2017.

Property sales in April decreased by nearly 26 per cent compared to 2017, and fell about one per cent below the number of sales recorded a month earlier.

It took an average of about 16 days longer to sell homes, compared to a year earlier — an 84 per cent increase from 19 to 35 days for residential freehold, while condominium sales increased by about 48 per cent, from 25 to 37 days.

Still, the association pointed out the average days on the market has dropped compared to 36 days in March and 41 days in February.

Meanwhile, there was also a slight 0.34 per cent drop in average residential sales prices. The average sale price was $417,121 last month, compared to $418,552 in April 2017.

The biggest drop in real estate value for the month was in Niagara-on-the-Lake, where average sale prices fell $76,407.