Home sales in Grey Bruce slumped last month to their lowest levels for September in 22 years.
The Realtors Association of Grey Bruce Owen Sound says 190 homes sold, a sharp decline of 41.4 per cent from the same month last year. Home sales were more than 34 per cent below the five-year and 10-year averages for September.
The realtors association’ says the total dollar value of all home sales in September was $124.5-million, sinking 44.9 per cent from the same month in 2021.
Average home prices in Grey Bruce were just over $655,031, a year-over-year decline of six per cent. It is, however, a slight increase of about 3.5 per cent from August when the average price of homes sold in the region was $632,500.
Home prices are down around 12 per cent since spring. RAGBOS reported in April the average was just over $744,000.
The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $709,862, an increase of 10.9 per cent from the first nine 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 $578,600 in September, an increase of 6.1 per cent over the same month last year. It’s a slight decline of around 1.4 per cent from the composite benchmark price of $587,000 the region posted August.
The benchmark price for single family homes in Grey Bruce was $581,900, an increase of 5.4 per cent year-over-year. For townhouse/row units in September it was $591,000 (a year-over-year increase of 22.2 per cent) and for apartments it was $371,100 (23.1 per cent increase).
There continues to be more supply on the regional housing market as well compared to recent years.
RAGBOS explains active listings at the end of September 2022 are more than 93 per cent higher than last year and more than 24.9 per cent above the five-year average, with 1,057 residential units available for sale. This as 452 new listings hit the market in the month, the most in September in more than five years.
One metric indicates the pace of Grey Bruce’s housing market has slowed considerably. RAGBOS says months of inventory numbered 5.6 at the end of September, up from 1.7 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 5.1 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.