Niagara housing market comes back to life
While the numbers are positive signs for 2020, they’re a mixed bag compared to those from May 2019
Maybe COVID-19 isn’t the concern it once was for Niagara residents who want to sell their houses. Or maybe it’s the warmer weather.
Either way, the region’s real estate market came back to life last month after a slow spring.
Across Niagara there were 473 new listings in May, a big jump from April when only 270 homes were put on the market.
Meanwhile, the benchmark price — the median price of homes between 51 and 99 years old with three bedrooms and two bathrooms — also went up slightly, to $456,400 from $452,300 in May.
“What a difference a month can make,” said Terri McCallum, president of Niagara Association of Realtors, in a
news release.
“After a significant decline in activity in April we have rebounded with a 30 per cent increase in new listings and a 75 per cent increase in sales.”
Data compiled by the realtors association from MLS listings show the average home sold last month had been on the market for 41 days, compared to 34 in April.
The hottest markets might have been Pelham, Niagara Falls and Thorold, all of which saw more listings, higher average price sales and fewer average days on the market.
At the other end of the scale, Fort Erie, St. Catharines and Port Colborne/Wainfleet all saw more listings, but the average sale price went down slightly and houses sold more slowly than in April.
While the numbers are positive signs for 2020, they’re a mixed bag compared to those from May 2019.
While the benchmark median price climbed 11 per cent, to $456,400 last month over $411,000 in May 2019, the number of sales dropped by 38 per cent to 473, from 762 in May 2019.
Niagara’s numbers for that period are similar to those in Hamilton-Burlington, where sales dropped by 42 per cent but prices rose 12 per cent.
The full Niagara report for May can be viewed at NiagaraRealtor.ca.