Simcoe & District Real Estate Board

The number of homes sold through the MLS® System of the Simcoe & District Real Estate Board totaled 84 units in August 2022. This was down sharply by 35.9% from August 2021.

Home sales were 29.2% below the five-year average and 30.6% below the 10-year average for the month of August.

On a year-to-date basis, home sales totaled 789 units over the first eight months of the year. This was a substantial decrease of 19.2% from the same period in 2021.

“Sales activity recorded another year-over-year decline in August as demand has pulled back amid interest rate increases and a hit to affordability. This is likely to continue through the remainder of the year as sellers play catchup with their pricing expectations,” said Melissa Mummery, President of the Simcoe & District Real Estate Board. “New supply is coming in strong, which is a good sign for the housing market in that overall inventories are finally being lifted from their rock bottom levels. Once buyers come back off the sidelines and sellers reassess their pricing positions there should be a decent selection of listings on the market to choose from.”

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 $576,200 in August 2022, a minor increase of 2.5% compared to August 2021.

The benchmark price for single-family homes was $576,200, a small gain of 2.4% on a year-over-year basis in August. By comparison, the benchmark price for townhouse/row units was $577,800, increasing by 6.9% compared to a year earlier.

The average price of homes sold in August 2022 was $636,038, a small gain of 2.7% from August 2021.

The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $732,703, increasing by 18.3% from the first eight months of 2021.

The dollar value of all home sales in August 2022 was $53.4 million, a sharp decrease of 34.2% from the same month in 2021.

The number of new listings was up by 13.8% from August 2021. There were 173 new residential listings in August 2022.

New listings were 6% above the five-year average and 8.9% above the 10-year average for the month of August.

Active residential listings numbered 330 units on the market at the end of August, more than double the levels from a year earlier, jumping 114.3% from the end of August 2021.

Active listings were 25.4% above the five-year average and 11% below the 10-year average for the month of August.

Months of inventory numbered 3.9 at the end of August 2022, up from the 1.2 months recorded at the end of August 2021 and above the long-run average of 3.1 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.