Real estate sales slip in region
Last month saw decline in sales compared with June of 2016
WATERLOO REGION — Is the red-hot local real estate market finally cooling down?
Both the Kitchener-Waterloo and Cambridge associations of realtors reported year-over-year declines in sales in June. And although average prices are still up compared to June 2016, they’re down compared to this spring’s statistics.
The Kitchener-Waterloo association, representing transactions in Kitchener, Waterloo and Woolwich, Wellesley and Wilmot townships, recorded 716 sales in June, down 3.2 per cent over June 2016’s record-setting numbers.
That’s the first time this year that sales have decelerated on a monthly basis, the association noted in a release.
Sales also retreated from the 816 units sold this May.
In Cambridge and North Dumfries, there were 240 single-family residential units sold last month, a drop of nearly 12 per cent compared to a year ago.
The average price for all properties sold in the Kitchener-Waterloo area rose nearly 20 per cent year-over-year, to $465,772.
But that’s down from an average of $496,664 in May, and $512,656 in April.
Detached homes sold for an average of $537,389, up about 19 per cent year-over-year, but down from an average of $594,453 two months ago.
It’s a similar story in Cambridge, where the average single-family detached price was $514,451, a jump of nearly 30 per cent over June 2016.
But that average price is down from an April average of $539,135.
Association representatives say an increase in new listings is helping to meet
exceptional demand.
“Home sales in June were very strong, and we’re on track to have another record-breaking year of residential sales,” KitchenerWaterloo association president James Craig said in a release.
“We definitely saw more supply coming on the market the past two months and that has helped to meet the strong homebuyer demand.”
In June, Kitchener-Waterloo realtors listed 1,083 residential properties.
It was the second straight month that more than 1,000 new listings were registered.
Cambridge association president Jim Robinson also said new listings continue to rise.
Overall inventory numbers remain low, though, in both jurisdictions.