January was a record month for home sales in Chatham-Kent despite the record-low supply.
That's according to the Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors. The association reported on Tuesday that 92 houses were sold across Chatham-Kent last month, a 27.8 per cent surge from January 2019.
“We know demand is very strong, and home sales began 2020 with a massive new January record as a result,” said President Michael Gibbons. “That may be possible in a quiet month like January, but there will have to be a considerable jump in new listings in order to pull off the same feat in the spring, otherwise that excess demand will continue to spill over even more onto the price side.”
The average price of a home sold in January 2020 was $246,143, jumping 12.6 per cent from the same month a year ago.
On the supply side, there were 105 new homes listed last month. Gibbons said that is an increase of 11.7 per cent or 11 new listings on a year-over-year basis but the supply remains historically low. He added overall supply is also trending at never before seen lows. There are a total of 143 homes up for sale at the end of January, down 21 per cent from the end of last January.
"Months of inventory numbered 1.6 at the end of January 2020, down from the 2.5 months recorded at the end of January 2019 and also a record low for this time of year," Gibbons said.
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.
