Three more real estate records were broken in Chatham-Kent last month.
The Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors (CKAR) said the first record to fall was total home sales -- 124 houses were sold locally in February, which is a gain of 17 per cent from the same month a year ago and a new sales record for the month of February.
CKAR also reported that total home sales were 34.2 per cent above the five-year average and 45.7 per cent above the 10-year average for the month of February.
The association mentioned that 226 homes have been sold in the first two months of the year, which is a jump of 6.6 per cent (14 homes) from the same period last year.
"Sales activity reached the best February in history, continuing the strong momentum we saw at the end of 2021 and during the first month of 2022," said Amber Pinsonneault, President of the Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors. "What’s really surprising is that home sales managed to record a level as high as they did with new listings only sitting around average levels for this time of year. Stronger demand has been eating into overall inventories, which are once again on their way back down towards record lows."
Pinsonneault said the second record to fall was the average price -- that topped the $500,000 barrier for the first time ever last month. She said heated competition among potential buyers pushed the average price of homes sold in February 2022 to a record $531,544, a substantial increase of 37.2 per cent from last February.
Realtors in Chatham-Kent also set a monthly record for sales totals with $65.9 million in homes changing hands last month, which was a substantial gain of 60.5 per cent from February in 2021.
At the same time, the number of homes on the market is still very low.
CKAR noted the number of new listings declined by 5.6 per cent (8 listings) from February 2021 with 134 new residential listings last month. New listings were 6.9 per cent above the five-year average and 2.6 per cent above the 10-year average for the month of February, according to the association.
CKAR reported 67 active residential listings on the market at the end of February, down sharply by 15.2 per cent (12 listings) from the end of February 2021. The association said active listings haven't been this low in the month of February in more than three decades. Active listings were also 52.1 per cent below the five-year average and 77.2 per cent below the 10-year average for the month of February.
CKAR said the number of homes currently available in Chatham-Kent could be sold in two weeks if sales trends continued at the current pace.
