Home sales in Grey Bruce picked up a bit in March, but were still below the long-term volume trends for the month.
The Realtors Association of Grey Bruce Owen Sound says 217 homes sold, a decline of 19 per cent from March 2022. Home sales were more than 11.8 per cent below the five-year average for the month, and more than nine per cent under the 10-year average.
Monthly sales volume did pick up slightly from February, when 154 homes changed hands in the area.
The realtors association’ says the total dollar value of all home sales in March was $134-million, a drop of more than 33 per cent from the same month in 2022.
Average home price in Grey Bruce was just over $617,000 — a year-over-year decline of 18.2 per cent. Month-to-month, it’s a drop of about 3.6 per cent from February 2023 when the average price was $640,000.
The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $611,490, a decline of 19.5 per cent from the first three months of 2022.
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 $534,700 in March, a decline of 15.5 per cent from the same month last year. It is about 2.1 per cent higher than the benchmark price of $523,100 the region posted in February.
The benchmark price for single family homes in Grey Bruce was $541,800, a decline of 15.5 per cent year-over-year. For townhouse/row units in March it was $451,300 (a year-over-year decrease of 16.9 per cent) and for apartments it was $345,600 (5.6 per cent annual decrease).
The amount of new listings hitting the regional housing market in March also increased compared to last year, while overall supply on the market is above the long-term trend.
The realtors’ association says there were 406 new listings last month, 8.6 per cent above the five-year average.
RAGBOS explains active listings at the end of March 2023 are more than 139.5 per cent higher than last year and at their highest level in more than five years for the month, with 836 residential units available for sale. That is more than 38 per cent above the five-year average for March in the region, but actually 4.6 per cent below the longer-run, 10-year average.
One metric indicates the pace of Grey Bruce’s housing market is picking up a bit. RAGBOS says months of inventory numbered 3.9 at the end of March. That is below the long-run average of 4.5 months for this time of year, but up from 1.3 months recorded in March 2022. 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.