MLS® home sales activity in Kingston showed further signs of stabilization in the second quarter of 2009, as the gap between activity this year and last continues to shrink. Meanwhile, the supply of listings on the housing market has reached a plateau, and is beginning to retreat from elevated levels.

Quarterly MLS® sales numbered 1,271 units in the second quarter of 2009, down only five per cent from year-ago levels. This is the smallest decrease in two quarters, and is already less than half of the decline from the first quarter of 2009.

MLS® home sales in April and June 2009 recorded larger than normal increases on a monthly basis, and posted gains in seasonally adjusted sales activity (seasonal adjustment removes normal seasonal fluctuations). As a result, seasonally adjusted activity was up 12 per cent on a quarterly basis in the second quarter of 2009.

MLS® single detached home sales in Kingston declined six per cent year-over-year to 1,147 units in the second quarter of 2009, less than half of the decline from the previous quarter.

With supply retreating from elevated levels and a smaller decline in sales activity, the MLS® market for single detached homes was tighter in the second quarter of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008. Buyers responded to a tighter market by spending less time shopping for a home than they had a year earlier.

The median sale price for MLS® single detached homes edged up one per cent from a year earlier to a new record. The median price in the second quarter of 2009 was $232,000.