Cornerstone Association of REALTORS - Simcoe and District

The number of homes sold in Simcoe & District via the MLS® System of the Cornerstone Association of REALTORS® (Cornerstone) totaled 69 units in December 2024. This was up sharply by 56.8% from December 2023.

Home sales were 8.8% above the five-year average and 15.8% above the 10-year average for the month of December.

On an annual basis, home sales totaled 1,071 units over the course of 2024. This was an increase of 8.5% from 2023.

“2024 turned out to be a solid year for our region. Sales jumped year over year in December and ended the year surpassing 2023 sales totals. While the number of newly listed properties dipped below 100 for the first time since last December, the 2024 tally was higher than in 2023,” said Drew Hemsley, Cornerstone spokesperson for the Simcoe and District market area. “The MLS® HPI Benchmark Price steadily increased in the first half of the year before tapering off in the latter months, ultimately closing the year below where it stood at the end of 2023. The big question now is whether recent changes to mortgage rules and the possibility of another rate cut will be enough to draw buyers into the market, or will buyers remain cautious in the face of the shifting political and financial landscapes? Only time will tell!”

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 $533,900 in December 2024, falling by 4.3% compared to December 2023.

The benchmark price for single-family homes was $533,900, a decline of 4.4% on a year-over-year basis in December. By comparison, the benchmark price for townhouse/row units was $538,000, nearly unchanged, down only 0.2% compared to a year earlier.

The average price of homes sold in December 2024 was $616,794, a small reduction of 3.9% from December 2023.

The more comprehensive annual average price was $638,485, edging up 0.4% from all of 2023.

The dollar value of all home sales in December 2024 was $42.6 million, an advance of 50.7% from the same month in 2023.

The number of new listings was down modestly by 3.7% (three listings) from December 2023. There were 79 new residential listings in December 2024.

New listings were 8.2% above the five-year average and 21.4% above the 10-year average for the month of December.

Active residential listings numbered 371 units on the market at the end of December, an increase of 11.1% from the end of December 2023. Active listings haven’t been this high in the month of December in more than five years.

Active listings were 65.6% above the five-year average and 61.6% above the 10-year average for the month of December.

Months of inventory numbered 5.4 at the end of December 2024, down from the 7.6 months recorded at the end of December 2023 and above the long-run average of 4.1 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.