Niagara Association of REALTORS®

The number of homes sold through the MLS® System of the Niagara Association of REALTORS® (NAR) totaled 587 units in October 2024. This was a substantial gain of 41.1% from October 2023.

Home sales were 12% below the five-year average and 11.5% below the 10-year average for the month of October.

On a year-to-date basis, home sales totaled 5,708 units over the first 10 months of the year. This was a modest gain of 3.6% from the same period in 2023.

“Sales activity came in well above October levels from the past two years, although we’re not back to what might be considered normal levels for this time of year just quite yet,” said Nathan Morrissette, Chair of the Niagara Association of REALTORS® (NAR). “New listings were also up in October, reaching the second highest level for this month on record. Because demand rose by more than new supply, the market balance shifted ever so slightly back into balanced territory. However, future movements in this balance will be dictated by the extent to which sellers get into the market in response to a growing number of buyers who are now returning.”

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 $638,500 in October 2024, nearly unchanged, down only 0.5% compared to October 2023.

The benchmark price for single-family homes was $654,400, unchanged on a year-over-year basis in October. By comparison, the benchmark price for townhouse/row units was $617,500, a slight reduction of 0.1% compared to a year earlier, while the benchmark apartment price was $440,600, falling by 3.5% from year-ago levels.

The average price of homes sold in October 2024 was $694,115, up modestly by 3% from October 2023.

The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $694,211, essentially unchanged, down just 0.7% from the first 10 months of 2023.

The dollar value of all home sales in October 2024 was $407.4 million, a jump of 45.3% from the same month in 2023.

The number of new listings increased by 5.9% from October 2023. There were 1,402 new residential listings in October 2024. This was the largest number of new listings added in the month of October in more than three decades.

New listings were 16% above the five-year average and 25.6% above the 10-year average for the month of October.

Active residential listings numbered 3,102 units on the market at the end of October, a gain of 12.3% from the end of October 2023. Active listings haven’t been this high in the month of October in more than a decade.

Active listings were 51.6% above the five-year average and 56.1% above the 10-year average for the month of October.

Months of inventory numbered 5.3 at the end of October 2024, down from the 6.6 months recorded at the end of October 2023 and above the long-run average of 3.4 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.