Guelph home sales up year-over-year in March based on pre-COVID strength

Guelph home sales up year-over-year in March based on pre-COVID strength.

According to statistics provided by the MLS® System of the Guelph and District Association of REALTORS®, home sales numbered 284 units in March 2020. This was an increase of 15.9% from March 2019.

On a year-to-date basis, home sales totaled 717 units over the first three months of the year, up 23.4% from the same period in 2019.

“Home sales held up well right up until the end of March, aided by a burst of new listings in week three just before everything started to really shut down,” said Matthew Bennett-Monty, President of the Guelph and District Association of REALTORS®. “Looking at data in the week leading up to the Easter weekend, both sales and new listings slowed pretty sharply, which is in line with the rest of the country as many buyers and sellers put their plans on hold amid the strict physical distancing guidelines put in place to get the COVID-19 pandemic under control.”

The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) tracks price trends far more accurately than is possible using average or median price measures. The overall MLS® HPI composite benchmark price for Guelph and District was $588,300, up 9.4% in March 2020 compared to March 2019.

The benchmark price for single-family homes was $604,900, climbing 8.6% on a year-over-year basis in March. By comparison, the benchmark price for townhouse/row units was $431,300, rising 11.4% compared to a year earlier while the benchmark apartment price was $367,000, up 12.4%.

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