The average price of homes sold in the region dropped in May as the number of listings rose dramatically.
The average price of residences sold through the MLS System of the Cornwall and District Real Estate Board was $383,147, a drop of 3.6 per cent from May 2023. The year-to-date average price was $406,202, down by 2.1 per cent from the first five months of 2023.
The number of new listings (233) saw a sizable gain of 18.3 per cent from May 2023.
New listings were 11.8 per cent above the five-year average and 7.9 per cent below the 10-year average.
Active residential listings numbered 423 units on the market at the end of May, a substantial gain of 51.6 per cent from the end of May 2023. Active listings haven’t been this high in the month of May in five years.
Active listings were 53.8 per cent above the five-year average and 19.7 per cent below the 10-year average for the month of May.
“Since hitting bottom in late summer two years ago demand has been on a gradual path to recovery, albeit with many ups and downs along the way,” said board president Vicki Vanderveen.
“The good news is that year-to-date activity continues to run ahead of our more subdued levels from last year, while sellers remain very active and continue to provide a boost to overall inventories,” she added. “With more options to choose from and the market balance sliding more in favour of buyers than it has been in the past seven years, potential home buyers should not wait too long before stepping back in to avoid missing opportunities that may disappear once the Bank of Canada begins cutting rates and brings people back in off the sidelines.”
The number of homes sold totaled 137 units in May, a gain of 7.9 per cent (10 sales) from May 2023.
Home sales were 6.8 per cent below the five-year average and 15.1 per cent below the 10-year average for the month of May.
On a year-to-date basis, home sales totaled 525 units over the first five months of the year. This was an increase of 10.8 per cent from 2023.
The dollar value of all home sales in May was $52.5 million, an increase of 4% from the same month in 2023.
Months of inventory numbered 3.1 at the end of May 2024, up from the 2.2 months recorded at the end of May 2023 and below the long-run average of 3.2 months for this time of year.
The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.
The Cornwall and District Real Estate Board covers a large area, including the City of Cornwall and the Counties of Stormont, Glengarry, Prescott, and part of Dundas.