MLS® Market Activity In Guelph and District Starts To Pick Up In March
The number of homes sold through the MLS® System of the Guelph and District Association of REALTORS® totaled 363 units in March 2023. This was a decrease of 31.3% from March 2022.
Home sales were 24.4% below the five-year average and 21.5% below the 10-year average for the month of March.
On a year-to-date basis, home sales totaled 794 units over the first three months of the year, down by 37.2% from the same period in 2022.
“There was a notable uptick in market activity during the month of March. Although still below the long run averages and the all-time records set in 2022, sales were double the totals from January. This can be attributed, in part, to the typical busy spring market. said Tyson Hinschberger, President of the Guelph and District Association of REALTORS®. “While the number of newly listed properties was down year over year, new listings increased 22% from the previous month. This was a welcome infusion for potential buyers as they will now have a wider selection of homes to choose from. New listings also outpaced sales and as a result, overall inventory rose to slightly above the 500 mark for the first time since last fall. Market conditions have been relatively balanced for most of the past 12 months but have once again moved into sellers’ territory. It is reasonable to expect that as we move further into the traditionally busy spring market, activity will provide insight into what we should expect during the summer months and beyond.”
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 was $808,200 in March 2023, a decline of 19.7% compared to March 2022.
The benchmark price for single-family homes was $904,700, a decrease of 19.2% on a year-over-year basis in March. By comparison, the benchmark price for townhouse/row units was $648,900, down by 20.2% from year-ago levels, while the benchmark apartment price fell by 20% to $522,200, compared to a year earlier.
The average price of homes sold in March 2023 was $886,998, decrease of 19.1% from March 2022.
The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $860,085, a decline of 22.2% from the first three months of 2022.
The dollar value of all home sales in March 2023 was $322 million, retreating 44.4% from the same month in 2022.
The number of new listings fell 38.6% from March 2022. There were 514 new residential listings in March 2023. This was the lowest number of new listings added in the month of March in more than 15 years.
New listings were 24.5% below the five-year average and 21.6% below the 10-year average for the month of March.
Active residential listings numbered 505 units on the market at the end of March, advancing 45.1% from the end of March 2022.
Active listings were 8.1% above the five-year average and 13.4% below the 10-year average for the month of March.
Months of inventory numbered 1.4 at the end of March 2023, up from the 0.7 months recorded at the end of March 2022 and on par with the long-run average of 1.4 months for this time of year. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.
