The Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors (CKAR) expects a "more normal" real estate market in 2023.
On Tuesday, new CKAR president Matt Bechard said the momentum heading into 2023 looks promising with sales activity still moving up steadily and new listings coming onto the market at very supportive levels.
"December 2022 posted an average level of sales activity for that time of year and the full year of 2022 posted annual totals that were in line with the average compared to recent years. However, we know that last year was anything but average and this annual figure masks the volatility by blending the highs of spring with the lows of the second half of the year into one number," said Bechard. "A few more months of this and we can almost call it a return to a more normal market, but we’ll have to wait and see how many buyers step back off the sidelines and return in the spring."
The realtors association noted the number of new listings jumped by 24.4 per cent last month from December 2021 with 107 new homes up for sale, the largest number of new listings added in the month of December in more than a decade.
CKAR also reported a total of 286 homes for sale at the end of the year, which is more than double the levels from a year earlier after rocketing up 262 per cent from the end of December 2021.
"Active listings haven't been this high in the month of December in more than five years," Bechard said.
Meanwhile, CKAR reported 76 homes sold in December in Chatham-Kent, which was a big decline of 42.4 per cent from December 2021. December home sales were also 12.6 per cent below the five-year average and 0.3 per cent lower than the 10-year average. There were a total of 1,347 homes sold in 2022, a substantial decline of 26.6 per cent from 2021, according to the realtors association.
The average price of a home sold in Chatham-Kent last month was $384,644, a sharp decrease of 12 per cent from December 2021, however, the more comprehensive annual average price was $459,950, up by 9.6 per cent from all of 2021, reported CKAR.
According to the association, realtors in Chatham-Kent sold $29.2 million last month, a substantial decline of 49.4 per cent from the same month in 2021.