Low inventory drives up house prices in C-K

Home sales in ChathamKent are down from the same time last year, but the market is nowhere near cooling off as high demand and a low inventory of homes continue to drive up prices. Residential sales activity for October recorded through the MLS System of the Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors was 110 units, down 12.7 per cent from October 2017. However, it was third-highest number of homes ever sold for the month.

The average home sold for $230,883 last month, a jump of nearly 25 per cent from October 2017.

“We’ve got people fighting over fewer homes and that’s what’s affecting the market right now,” association president Steve Carroll said.

Although October saw a recordhigh average price, Carroll cautioned that “one month does not make a year.”

He said the comprehensive yearto-date average price of $211,936 for the first 10 months of this year is the more important number. “It’s just reflects somewhat more of a level increase, still a good increase, but not that huge jump that you can get from month-tomonth,” Carroll said.

He said the average selling price could come in lower in December, because it is traditionally a slower month for home sales due to people being busy with the Christmas season.

Carroll said the month figures sometimes need to be taken with a grain of salt. However, the comprehensive year-to-date price is up 16.3 per cent from the first 10 months of 2017, which Carroll said is “still very good for Chatham.”

On a year-to-date basis, home sales totalled 1,119 units over the first 10 months of this year, which is down 4.4 per cent from the same time in 2017.

There were 167 new residential listings last month, up five per cent — eight listings — on a year-overyear basis.

Active residential listings numbered 247 units at the end of October, which was a decrease of 11.2 per cent from same period last year and marked the lowest level for an October on record, according the CKAR. While the influx of people coming to Chatham-Kent from larger urban areas is still impacting the local market, Carroll doesn’t believe it is a strong as it has been in the past when they represented more than 30 per cent of home sales.

Although it is a sellers market, he said many real estate agents are cautioning people to be aware that there is not a lot of inventory if they plan to sell and need to look for another home to buy, locally. “You may have a more difficult time finding the type of home that you’re looking for,” Carroll said.