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Higher interest rates and an increase in the number of properties on the market have home sales softening in Grey-Bruce.
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The Realtors Association of Grey Bruce Owen Sound reported that sales were down by 2.1 per cent in September when compared to September 2022. The 183 units sold were four fewer than in the same month a year ago.
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Sales were 33.2 per cent below the five-year average and almost 37 per cent below the 10-year average for the month of September, it said in a news release.
On a year-to-date basis, sales are off slightly from where they were in the first nine months of 2022, with the 1,951 units sold so far in 2023, down just under 1 per cent from the same period a year ago.
The number of new listings in September totaled 484, which was a 7.3 per cent increase from September 2022 and the largest number of new listings added in September in more than five years.
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The new listings were almost 14 per cent above the five-year average and more than 16 per cent above the 10-year average for the month of September, RAGBOS said.
At the end of September there were 1,247 active residential listings in the two counties, which is up more than 16 per cent from the end of September 2022 and the highest they have been in almost five years.
Active listings were more than 37 per cent above the five-year average, but 3.3 per cent below the 10-year average for September.
There were 6.8 months of inventory at the end of September, up almost a full month from the end of September 2022 and two months higher than the long-run average for the time of year, said RAGBOS, which represents more than 450 realtors at offices in Bruce, Grey and part of Wellington counties.
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The average price of homes sold in September was $649,320, almost unchanged from a year ago. For the first none months of 2023, the average price is $635,263, which is down 10.5 per cent compared to the average price for the first nine months of 2022.
The MLS Home Price Index, which RAGBOS says tracks prices far more accurately than using average or median prices, put the overall benchmark price at $579,800 in September, down just 1.4 per cent compared to September 2022.
The benchmark price for single-family homes was $587,600 in September, which was down less than a per cent from a year ago, while for townhouse and row units it was $521,900, down almost 12 per cent, and for apartments it was $338,900, down 7.4 per cent.
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