Home sales and average prices in Peterborough city and county started the new year on an upswing.The Peterborough and the Kawarthas Association of Realtors reported this week that 115 units were sold in January, up 9.5 per cent from January 2018. The average price of homes sold in January was $416,011, up 6.4 per cent from January 2018 and also up 12.5 per cent from December’s average price of $369,715.
“Activity has been improving, although at this point it is still running a little below average,” said Cathy Burningham, president of the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Association of Realtors.
“Unlike some other markets in Ontario, supply in our region remains extremely low, which is keeping a firm floor under prices.” There were 217 new residential listings in January, up 21.9 per cent on a year-over-year basis. But overall supply remains at extremely low levels, the association reports.
There were 362 active residential listings at the end of January, up 20.7 per cent from the end of January 2018, but way below average for the start of the year. Residential months of inventory numbered just 3.1 at the end of January, below the long-run average of 9.2 months for this time of year, the association reported. 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. There were 131 sales of all property types in January, an increase of 12 per cent from January 2018, the association reported. The total value of all properties sold was $54.6 million, up 25.3 per cent from January 2018.
Meanwhile the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported that new home starts plunged in January to just six from 25 in January 2018 for the Peterborough census metropolitan area.The annualized rate of Peterborough home starts in January sat at 132, down 69 per cent from just a month ago, CMHC reported.