Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Market Update
Hot home sales in August for the Kitchener-Waterloo area!
There were a total of 598 home sales in Kitchener-Waterloo and area though the Multiple Listing System (MLS® System) of the Kitchener-Waterloo Association of REALTORS® (KWAR) in August.
This represents a 26.4% increase in sales compared to August of 2015. It also ranks as the most active August on record and 37.6% above the 5-year average for the month.
Year-to-date sales also climbed to new heights with 4,703 residential sales so far in 2016. Again, this is the highest on record for this period and 23.4% above the 5-year average.
Active residential listings continue to remain depressed in comparison to the same time last year. The number of active residential listings on the KWAR’s MLS® System to the end of August sat at 863 which is 46.6% lower compared to same period last year’s 1,616 homes that were on the market.
“It wasn’t just temperatures heating up in August”, says KWAR President Charlotte Zawada. “We’re still experiencing tight market conditions in terms of available homes for sale and this continues to push home prices in the Region upward,” says Zawada.
August’s sales included 353 single detached homes (up 19.7% compared to August 2015) and 151 condominium type units (up 36.0%) which include any property regardless of style (ie. semis, townhomes, apartment, detached etc).
Sales also included 40 Semi-detached homes (up 14.3%) and 49 freehold townhouses (up 69.0%). The average sale price of all residential sales in August increased 15.2% to $402,000 compared to August 2015.
“We saw strong residential activity this summer season and with record setting year-to-date sales it’s clear that buyers remain confident about the value of homes in Kitchener-Waterloo,” says Zawada.
Single detached style homes sold for an average price of $487,050 an increase of 20.9% compared to last year. The average sale price for an apartment style condominium was $233,302, an increase of 7.9%. Townhomes and semis sold for an average of $298,148 (up 10.2%) and $299,353 (up 5.5%) respectively.