For the second consecutive month, the number of homes that changed hands fell in Windsor-Essex.
The Windsor-Essex County Association of Realtors says sales were down 18.03% last month from December 2016. Sold signs went up at 291 homes, compared to 355.
However, the association's president doesn't believe it means the market is slowing.
"I think it's just a blip," says Daniel Hofgartner. "The market was strong all throughout the year compared to last year. As there's less properties for sale this past December, there's less homes to chose from so people are probably just waiting for the new year to see what comes up for sale."
December's results follow a slight decrease in November, but sales last year still topped the year before by 1.05%.
Despite slower sales, the price of buying a new home continued to climb, jumping 36.4% in December. The average cost was $300,314 from $261,157 in November and $220,053 in December 2016.
Some of that increase can be attributed to the sale of more higher-end homes.
"Lots of homes over $1-million sold in the month of December which really skewed the numbers," says Hofgartner. "We're still maintaining that the averages are still up from the previous year. Right now the average sales in 2017 are still about $265,000 for a home."
Realtors sold 25 homes valued between $420,000 to $499,000 compared to 12 last year, and 26 homes worth more than $500,000 compared to 14 in 2016.
The number of people who listed their home for sale did not change much from 2016. Listings rose only 0.5%.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is expected to release its report on housing starts on Wednesday.
