Kingston and Area Real Estate Association

The number of homes sold through the MLS® System of the Kingston and Area Real Estate Association totaled 202 units in March 2024. This was a substantial decrease of 17.9% from March 2023.

Home sales were 33.7% below the five-year average and 33.1% below the 10-year average for the month of March.

On a year-to-date basis, home sales totaled 515 units over the first three months of the year. This was a small gain of 3% (15 sales) from the same period in 2023.

“Sales activity was down compared to last year’s levels as we haven’t yet seen a turnaround materialize in demand,” said Erin Finn, President of the Kingston and Area Real Estate Association. “Meanwhile, new listings surged from year-ago levels in March, coming in on par with the longer-term averages for this month. With overall inventories continuing to rise and our market balance dipping into buyer’s territory, we are still awaiting the return of sidelined buyers who are still cautiously biding their time.”

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 $548,100 in March 2024, up by 4.9% compared to March 2023.

The benchmark price for single-family homes was $562,600, an increase of 5.8% on a year-over-year basis in March. By comparison, the benchmark price for townhouse/row units was $508,700, a small reduction of 1.7% compared to a year earlier, while the benchmark apartment price was $416,300, edging up 0.1% from year-ago levels.

The average price of homes sold in March 2024 was $622,415, increasing by 5.8% from March 2023.

The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $597,620, a modest decline of 1.4% from the first three months of 2023.

The dollar value of all home sales in March 2024 was $125.7 million, down sharply by 13.2% from the same month in 2023.

The number of new listings saw an increase of 22.2% from March 2023. There were 533 new residential listings in March 2024.

New listings were 1.8% above the five-year average and 8.5% below the 10-year average for the month of March.

Active residential listings numbered 813 units on the market at the end of March, a jump of 46.8% from the end of March 2023. Active listings haven’t been this high in the month of March in more than five years.

Active listings were 54.9% above the five-year average and 9.3% below the 10-year average for the month of March.

Months of inventory numbered 4 at the end of March 2024, up from the 2.3 months recorded at the end of March 2023 and above the long-run average of 3.2 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.