Home prices cool off in October
Average home prices in Peterborough city and county cooled off a bit in October from September’s all-time high, but sales continued to surge and were the third highest in history for October.
The average home price in October was $452,408, down from the all-time high of $470,452 in September, but up 8.2 per cent from a year ago, the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Association of Realtors reported Friday.
Year to date, the average price was $454,868, up 6.6 per cent from the first 10 months of 2018.
There were 267 residential units sold in October, up 13.6 per cent from a year ago, bringing the year-to-date total to 2,336 units, up 4.1 per cent from the same period last year.
“Sales activity has returned to historically strong levels, with October marking the third-best sales figure on record for that month, not far behind 2015 and 2016,” association president Cathy Burningham stated.
“A big part of the improvement in sales has come as a result of the resurgence in much needed new listings. Even so, with so many of those new listings getting snapped up, overall inventories have only picked up slightly and the market remains very tight.”
There were 381 new residential listings in October, the most for October in five years and up 6.1 per cent from a year ago.
There were 664 active listings at the end of October, up 9.9 per cent from a year ago but still well below historical averages.
Home prices in the City of Kawartha Lakes averaged $466,250 in October, with 134 units sold in October, down 3.6 per cent from a year ago, the Kawartha Lakes Real Estate Association reported.
Meanwhile there were 39 new home starts (27 single-family units and 12 multiple dwelling units) in October, up 18 per cent from a year ago, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported Friday.
The adjusted annual home starts pace ended October at 515 units, up 14 per cent from the pace a year ago.