Real estate market activity in Grey Bruce slumped in June, in one of the slowest months for this time of year in the past decade as home sales and average prices continued to fall.
The Realtors Association of Grey Bruce Owen Sound says 232 homes sold last month, a substantial decline of 40.8 per cent from June 2021. Home sales were 29.3 per cent below the five-year average and 30.4 per cent below the 10-year average for June.
On a year-to-date basis, home sales totaled 1,437 units over the first six months of the year — a 21.7 per cent drop from the same period in 2021.
The realtors association’ says the total dollar value of all home sales in June was $159.3-million, down by 37.5 per cent from the same month in 2021.
Average home prices in Grey Bruce in June were just over $686,000, a year-over-year increase of 5.6 per cent. It’s a decline, however, from May 2022 when the average price of homes sold in the region topped $716,000.
Home prices are down around 9.2 per cent from two months prior, when RAGBOS reported in April the average was just over $744,000.
The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $734,964, an increase of 16 per cent from the first six 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 $629,300 in June, an increase of 26.1 per cent over the same month last year. It’s a slight decline of around 2.4 per cent from the composite benchmark price of $645,200 the region posted in May.
The benchmark price for single family homes in Grey Bruce was $635,300, a jump of 18.3 per cent year-over-year. For townhouse/row units in June was $597,100 (a year-over-year increase of 26.1 per cent) and for apartments it was $370,800 (56.5 per cent increase).
More housing supply is on the market as well.
RAGBOS explains active listings at the end of June 2022 are more than 61 per cent higher than last year, with 939 residential units available for sale. This as 608 new listings hit the market in the month, the largest number of new listings added in June in the past five years.
One metric indicates the pace of Grey Bruce’s housing market is quickly slowing from the blistering pace of 2021. RAGBOS says months of inventory numbered 4 at the end of June, up from 1.5 months recorded in the same month last year. This is still slightly below the long-run average of 4.9 months for this time of year.
The 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.