Home sales, prices keep climbing

It was another record setting month for home sales as 766 residential transactions were recorded through the Multiple Listing System the Kitchener-Waterloo Association of Realtors, an increase of 14.3 per cent compared to April 2016.

Residential sales in April included 492 detached homes (up 14.7 per cent compared to April 2016) and 161 condominium units (down 1.2 per cent). Sales also included 52 semi-detached homes (up 30 per cent) and 53 freehold townhouses (up 60.6 per cent).

KWAR listed 985 residential properties in K-W and area last month, a 17.8 per cent increase compared to April of 2016, and the first time the number of new listings put on the market in a single month has come this close to the 1,000 unit mark in two years, the association reported this week.

However, with inventory continuing to sit at or below one month of inventory for the ninth consecutive month, there continues to be a lot of pressure on prices. By the end of April, there were only 652 residential listings still active on the MLS system, 48.8 per cent fewer than the 1,274 available listings that were on the market at the end of April 2016.

The average sales price of all residential sales increased 39.7 per cent to $512,656 compared to April 2016. Detached homes sold for an average price of $594,453 an increase of 40.1 per cent, while the average sale price for an apartment style condominium was $267,455, an increase of 18.3 per cent. Townhomes and semis sold for an average of $377,531 (up 39.3 per cent) and $415,709 (up 47.7 per cent) respectively.