Sales volume for homes in Waterloo Region hit a record low for the month of March, as average prices rose across all categories.
Data from the Waterloo Region Association of Realtors shows 596 homes were sold through the association’s Multiple Listing Service (MLS) system last month.
That’s a drop of 3.2 per cent over March 2023 and 33.4 per cent below the previous five-year average for the month.
Still, an association news release said the first three months of the year saw an eight per cent increase in the number of sales compared to the same period last year.
“While home sales in Waterloo Region hit a record low for March in over two decades, we’re also witnessing a positive trend,” association president Christal Moura said.
“Over the past three months, prices and activity have started to pick up, and I expect this momentum will continue into the spring.”
After retreating slightly in February, average prices jumped in all residential categories last month.
The average price for all residential properties sold last month was $806,279, up 6.6 per cent compared to February’s results — a month-to-month increase of just over $50,000 — and 3.6 per cent higher year-over-year.
The average price for a detached home was $954,342, up 7.3 per cent over February — an increase of nearly $65,000 — and 4.9 per cent higher than March 2023.
For the remaining categories, townhouses saw the largest month-to-month gain, up six per cent from February to $667,810, and an increase of 4.4 per cent over March 2023.
Apartment-style condominiums sold for an average of $483,085 last month, rising 5.3 per cent above February’s figures but up just 0.3 per cent from a year ago.
Semis saw a month-to-month increase of one per cent to $680,039 — that’s down 2.9 per cent compared to March 2023.
“Home prices have been gradually increasing since December, which is a typical trend,” Moura said.
“The rate and extent of further increases will depend on the willingness and patience of potential home buyers who have been waiting for lower interest rates before making their purchase.”
Many analysts don’t think the Bank of Canada will move to lower rates before June, leaving some potential buyers feeling “stuck in limbo,” she said.
While the number of homes coming to the market is still below historic levels, inventory is rising compared to last year.
A total of 1,023 new listings were added to the local MLS system in March, up 18.7 per cent compared to last year but 15.9 per cent below the previous 10-year average for the month.
There were 1,081 homes available for sale at the end of March — that’s 54 per cent higher year-over-year, but about one per cent lower than the previous 10-year March average.
The number of months of inventory — the time it would take to sell the current inventory at the current pace — stood at 1.9 months at the end of March, more than 58 per cent higher than a year ago.
It took an average of 19 days to sell a property last month, right around the previous five-year average of 18 days.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
MONTREAL – The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers says Montreal-area home sales rose 9.3 per cent in August compared with the same month last year, with levels slightly higher than the historical average for this time of year.
The association says home sales in the region totalled 2,991 for the month, up from 2,737 in August 2023.
The median price for all housing types was up year-over-year, led by a six per cent increase for the price of a plex at $763,000 last month.
The median price for a single-family home rose 5.2 per cent to $590,000 and the median price for a condominium rose 4.4 per cent to $407,100.
QPAREB market analysis director Charles Brant says the strength of the Montreal resale market contrasts with declines in many other Canadian cities struggling with higher levels of household debt, lower savings and diminishing purchasing power.
Active listings for August jumped 18 per cent compared with a year earlier to 17,200, while new listings rose 1.7 per cent to 4,840.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
