Real estate market activity in Grey Bruce remained slow in December, but average prices showed signs of levelling off.
The Realtors Association of Grey Bruce Owen Sound says 110 homes sold, a decrease of 27.2 per cent from December 2021. Home sales were more more than 23 per cent below the five-year and 10-year averages for the month.
The realtors association’ says the total dollar value of all home sales in December was $71.1-million, sinking more than 43 per cent from the same month in 2021.
Average home prices in Grey Bruce were just over $646,000, a year-over-year decline 22.5 per cent. It is, however, an increase of more than seven per cent from November and October, when the average price of homes sold were $602,000 and $606,000 respectively.
Some year-end numbers for the region for 2022. RAGBOS says the comprehensive annual average price was $693,726, a 6.5 per cent increase over 2021. Home sales over 2022 totalled 2,367 units, a big decline of 32.4 per cent from the prior year.
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 $542,700 in December, a decline of 2.2 per cent from the same month last year. It is also a drop of 3.8 per cent from the composite benchmark price of $564,100 the region posted in November.
The benchmark price for single family homes in Grey Bruce was $549,800, a decline of 1.9 per cent year-over-year. For townhouse/row units in December it was $457,600 (a year-over-year decrease of 10.9 per cent) and for apartments it was $3400800 (1.9 per cent annual increase).
New listings on the regional housing market plummeted in December, but overall supply remains elevated over recent years.
The realtors’ association says 98 new listings hit the market, the lowest number of new listings added for any month in history in the region.
RAGBOS explains active listings at the end of December 2022 are more than 167 per cent higher than last year and at their highest level in more than five years for the month, with 724 residential units available for sale.
One metric indicates the pace of Grey Bruce’s housing market has settled into line with the long-run average for this time of year. RAGBOS says months of inventory numbered 6.6 at the end of December, up from 1.8 months recorded in the same month last year. The number indicates how long it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.
The long run average is 6.4 months for this time of year.
The Realtors Association of Grey Bruce Owen Sound covers a geographical area that includes Grey and Bruce counties, and part of Wellington County.