Home sales were steady in Grey Bruce in May.
The Realtors Association of Grey Bruce Owen Sound says 301 homes sold, a gain of 14 per cent over May 2022. The sales activity number was 1.9 per cent above the five-year average for the month, but nine per cent below the longer-term, 10-year average.
The realtors association’ says the total dollar value of all home sales in May was $196.2-million, an increase of 5.1 from the same month in 2022.
Average home price in Grey Bruce was just over $651,000 — a year-over-year decline of 7.8 per cent. Month-to-month, it’s a slight decline of about 1.9 per cent from April 2023 when the average price was $664,000.
The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $634,692, a decline of 14.7 per cent from the first five 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 $555,300 in May, a decline of 15.3 per cent from the same month last year. It is about 2.5 per cent higher than the benchmark price of $541,600 the region posted in April
The benchmark price for single family homes in Grey Bruce was $562,300, a decrease of 15.4 per cent year-over-year. For townhouse/row units in May it was $491,400 (a year-over-year decrease of 9.8 per cent) and for apartments it was $337,100 (5.7 per cent annual decrease).
The amount of new listings hitting the regional housing market in May was largely in line with last year, while overall supply on the market is above the medium-term trend, but below the longer-run.
The realtors’ association says there were 1,060 active residential listings at the end of May, more than 47 per cent higher than last year and at their highest level in more than five years for the month. That is more than 29.2 per cent above the five-year average for May in the region, but actually 18.6 per cent below the longer-run, 10-year average.
One metric indicates the pace of Grey Bruce’s housing market is moving a bit quicker than the long-run average. RAGBOS says months of inventory numbered 3.5 at the end of May. That is below the long-run average of four months for this time of year, but up from 2.7 months recorded in May 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.