Home prices in Grey Bruce were steady in April but the market showed signs of cooling off as sales volume dropped considerably from the same month last year.
The Realtors Association of Grey Bruce Owen Sound says 283 homes sold last month, a substantial decline of 25.5 per cent from April 2021. Home sales were two per cent above the five-year average and 2.3 per cent below the 10-year average for April.
On a year-to-date basis, home sales totalled 937 units over the first four months of the year — a 13 per cent drop from the same period in 2021.
The realtors association’ says the total dollar value of all home sales in April was $210.7-million, down by 11 per cent from the same month in 2021.
Average home prices in Grey Bruce in April were just over $744,000, a year-over-year jump of 19.4 per cent. It’s a slight decline, however, from March 2022 when the average price of homes sold in the region topped $759,000.
The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $754,453, an increase of 22 per cent from the first four months of 2021.
RAGBOS notes the MLS Home Price Index is a more advanced and accurate tool to gauge a neighbourhood’s home price levels and trends. It is based on the value home buyers assign to various housing attributes, which tend to evolve over time.
Using the MLS Home Price Index, the composite benchmark for Grey Bruce was $619,800 in April, an increase of 25.8 per cent over the same month last year. It is also higher than the composite benchmark price of $603,500 the region posted in March.
The benchmark price for single family homes in Grey Bruce was $623,500, surging 25.7 per cent higher year-over-year. For townhouse/row units in April it was $506,300 (a year-over-year increase of 26.5 per cent) and for apartments it was $382,900 (40.7 per cent increase).
RAGBOS explains active listings at the end of April 2022 are nearly 30 per cent below the five-year average, with only 461 residential units available for sale. This as 447 new listings hit the market in the month, a 4.3 per cent decline from March 2021.
One metric indicates Grey Bruce’s housing market continues to move at a quick pace, but not as fast as one year ago. RAGBOS says months of inventory numbered 1.6 at the end of April, up from 1.1 months recorded in the same month in 2021. This is still well below the long-run average of 4.7 months for this time of year. This number indicates how long it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.
The Realtors Association of Grey Bruce Owen Sound covers a geographical area that includes Grey and Bruce counties, and part of Wellington County.