The number of homes sold through the MLS® System of the Cornwall and District Real Estate Board totaled 56 units in December 2022. This was a sharp decrease of 30.9% from December 2021.
Home sales were 13.6% below the five-year average and 7.3% below the 10-year average for the month of December.
On an annual basis, home sales totaled 1,256 units over the course of 2022. This was down sharply by 24.9% from the same period in 2021.
“Home sales in December came in slightly below average levels for that time of year, capping off a year that was, on the whole, subdued compared to recent history,” said Troy Vaillancourt, President of the Cornwall and District Real Estate Board. “Demand has largely withdrawn from the market in the wake of the rapid interest rate increases last year and has yet to return in a meaningful way. New listings are also holding below average levels, which might suggest that buyers and sellers are in some kind of a standoff with each side waiting for the other to move first. In the meantime, average price levels continue to decline from their all-time peak in the spring of 2022, and with interest rates seemingly levelling out this could be the time for prospective homebuyers to make their move.”
The average price of homes sold in December 2022 was $392,691, a minor increase of 2.2% from December 2021.
The more comprehensive annual average price was $436,417, a sizable gain of 17.4% from all of 2021.
The dollar value of all home sales in December 2022 was $22 million, a substantial decline of 29.3% from the same month in 2021.
The number of new listings saw a gain of 10.4% (five listings) from December 2021. There were 53 new residential listings in December 2022.
New listings were 5.4% below the five-year average and 25.8% below the 10-year average for the month of December.
Active residential listings numbered 194 units on the market at the end of December, more than double the levels from a year earlier, increasing 173.2% from the end of December 2021.
Active listings were 2.2% above the five-year average and 48.8% below the 10-year average for the month of December.
Months of inventory numbered 3.5 at the end of December 2022, up from the 0.9 months recorded at the end of December 2021 and below the long-run average of 6.8 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.