December was a slow month for home sales in Grey Bruce, but prices held fairly steady.
The Realtors Association of Grey Bruce Owen Sound says 82 homes sold, a decline of more than 23 per cent from December 2022. The sales activity number was also well below the longer-run averages for the month (39.3 per cent below five-year trend, and 41.2 per cent below 10-year).
The realtors association’ says the total dollar value of all home sales in November was $55.3-million, down 19.6 per cent year-over-year.
The average price of homes sold was just over $674,000 — an increase of 4.9 cent from the same month last year. It’s also about 2.8 per cent higher than the average price the region posted in November 2023 ($656,000).
The more comprehensive year-to-date average price for 2023 was $640,044, a decrease of 7.7 per cent from the prior year.
RAGBOS notes the MLS composite benchmark price 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.
The composite benchmark home price for Grey Bruce was $548,600, essentially unchanged (0.5%) from December 2022. On a monthly basis, it is about 2.1 per cent lower than the benchmark price the region posted in November 2023 ($560,500).
The benchmark price for single family homes in Grey Bruce was $554,800, down slightly by 0.8 per cent cent year-over-year. For townhouse/row units in December it was $515,400 (a year-over-year increase 12.6 per cent) and for apartments it was $339,300 (0.8 per cent annual increase).
There’s plenty of housing supply on the regional market. RAGBOS says the amount of active listings at the end of December was the most for the month in five years. There were more than 870 units listed, up 16.1 per cent from last year and more than 50 per cent above the five-year average.
More than 150 new listings hit the market last month, the most for December in more than five years.
One metric indicates the pace of Grey Bruce’s housing market is much slower than the longer term trend for this time of year. RAGBOS says months of inventory numbered 10.6 at the end of December. That is well below the long-run average of 6.1 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.