K-W home sales were very strong in May!
Last month home sales through the Multiple Listing System (MLS® System) of the Kitchener-Waterloo Association of REALTORS® (KWAR) were up 12.5 per cent compared to last month and down 15.3 per cent compared to last year’s record-setting May.
A total of 692 residential properties sold in May compared to 817 the same time last year. The average days it took to sell a home in May was 20 days, compared to 11 days in May 2017.
“Although unit sales were down substantially compared to last year’s manic market, May was still a strong month of home buying and selling in Kitchener-Waterloo and area,” says Tony Schmidt, KWAR President. He highlights that the ten-year average number of home sales in Kitchener-Waterloo and area for the month of May is 625.
Residential sales in May included 414 detached (down 15.7 per cent compared to May 2017), and 169 condominium units (down 7.1 per cent) which includes any property regardless of style (i.e. semis, townhomes, apartment, detached etc.). Sales also included 46 semi-detached homes (down 28.1 per cent) and 53 freehold townhouses (down 24.3 per cent).
The average sale price of all residential properties sold in May decreased 2.4 per cent to $482,873 compared to the same month a year ago. Detached homes sold for an average price of $572,206 a decrease of 3.4 per cent compared to May of last year. During this same period, the average sale price for an apartment style condominium was $301,052, an increase of 2.7 per cent. Townhomes and semis sold for an average of $365,715 (up 1.3 per cent) and $393,616 (up 2 per cent) respectively.
The median price of all residential properties sold last month was down 0.9 per cent compared to May of last year at $445,000, and the median price of a detached home during the same period decreased 2.8 per cent to $520,000.
REALTORS® listed 1,068 residential properties in K-W and area last month, down 15.8 per cent compared to May of 2017, but up 14.4 per cent compared to the historical (2007-2016) average. The number of active residential listings on the KWAR’s MLS® System to the end of May totalled 1,062, which is 27.9 per cent higher than May of last year but still significantly below the historical (2007-2016) ten-year average of 1,719 listings for May.
“With interest rates expected to increase in July, we’re seeing strong demand for homes in Waterloo region,” says Schmidt. “Sales are strongest in the four to five hundred thousand price range, and while we’re certainly seeing activity cool from the past two years, once you eliminate those you quickly realize that sales volume and prices remain ahead of the ten-year averages.”