Peterborough and the Kawarthas Association of REALTORS® Inc.

The number of homes sold through the MLS® System of the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Association of REALTORS® Inc. totaled 100 units in February 2023. This was a big decline of 43.8% from February 2022.

Home sales were 28.9% below the five-year average and 27.8% below the 10-year average for the month of February.

On a year-to-date basis, home sales totaled 184 units over the first two months of the year. This was a substantial reduction of 30.6% from the same period in 2022.

“Although sales activity was still coming in below typical levels for this time of year, looking through the monthly seasonality we’ve actually seen a gradual improvement over the past several months that continued in February,” said Jessica Hill, President of the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Association of REALTORS® Inc. “We’re not expecting a hasty return to pre-pandemic levels but the trends are moving in the right direction. New listings have been very supportive of inventory levels in our region and this continued influx of supply could partially explain why sales activity has been able to gain momentum. On the price side, the MLS® HPI benchmark continues to wind down from its record last year, indicating that sellers are continuing to adjust their pricing expectations to meet buyers’ new affordability levels.”

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/single-family benchmark price was $630,700 in February 2023, down sharply by 17.6% compared to February 2022.

The average price of homes sold in February 2023 was $646,254, a sharp decrease of 26.7% from February 2022.

The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $629,124, down sharply by 27.7% from the first two months of 2022.

The dollar value of all home sales in February 2023 was $64.6 million, a substantial decline of 58.8% from the same month in 2022.

The number of new listings saw a big decline of 33.5% from February 2022. There were 153 new residential listings in February 2023. This was the lowest number of new listings added in the month of February in more than 35 years.

New listings were 22.1% below the five-year average and 25.7% below the 10-year average for the month of February.

Active residential listings numbered 251 units on the market at the end of February, more than double the levels from a year earlier, rocketing up 128.2% from the end of February 2022.

Active listings were 11% above the five-year average and 29.5% below the 10-year average for the month of February.

Months of inventory numbered 2.5 at the end of February 2023, up from the 0.6 months recorded at the end of February 2022 and below the long-run average of 2.7 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.