Chatham-Kent's housing market is continuing a slow climb back to pre-pandemic levels.
The latest figures from the Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors, released Thursday morning, said 114 homes changed hands in October, a significant jump from the 83 homes that were sold during the same month in 2023.
One of the biggest differences year-over-year is the change in the Bank of Canada's (BOC) overnight lending rate, which also directly affects mortgage and lending rates offered by banks.
In October 2023, the BOC's overnight rate was its recent peak of 5 per cent. That same rate started at 4.25 per cent last month and dropped to 3.75 per cent on October 23.
President of the Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors (CKAR) Carrie Patrick said they are starting to see some positive trends in terms of home sales as the BOC's interest rate starts to cool off.
"Sales activity has been building momentum unevenly since the beginning of the year, with many up-and-down movements from month to month but still presenting a definite upward trend," said Patrick. "We expect the market will quiet down as it normally does into late fall and through the winter, although if interest rates continue to decline we may see a stronger than normal seasonal pattern emerge on the demand side."
Overall, home sales throughout the first 10 months of the year in Chatham-Kent are up 6.7 per cent compared to the same time in 2023.
While home sales slowly climb back to pre-pandemic levels, the number of homes that are available on the market right now is still much higher than normal.
The CKAR reported there were 233 new residential listings in October 2024 in Chatham-Kent, marking the largest number of new listings added in October in more than 15 years -- and the second-highest level for that month on record.
Patrick said the increase in listings is a sign that "sellers are chomping at the bit for the long-awaited return of buyers into the market."
At the end of last month, there were 469 units on the market, the highest level for available homes in more than five years.
While the supply of homes for sale and the number of sales both jumped up last month in Chatham-Kent, the average price of the homes that did sell held steady.
The average price of the homes sold in October 2024 was around $413,000, an increase of just under one per cent compared to the same time in 2023.
Chatham-Kent's October home sales by year:
October 2019 - 138 units sold
October 2020 - 129
October 2021 - 174
October 2022 - 105
October 2023 - 83
October 2024 - 114