Residential sales activity in the area served by the Cornwall and District Real Estate Board totaled 189 units in August 2020. This was a large increase of 34% from August 2019. This was also a new sales record for the month of August.
On a year-to-date basis, home sales totalled 1,012 units over the first eight months of the year. This edged up 1.1% (11 sales) from the same period in 2019.
“Home sales continued at a steady pace during the month of August,” said Helen MacLeod, President of the Cornwall and District Real Estate Board. “Sellers appear to be slowly returning to the market, as the number of new listings were only slightly lower than last month. Overall, the relatively strong demand, combined with the lack of inventory, continues to put upward pressure on prices. Driving the average price of resale residential homes sold in August to a record high for the second time in three months.”
The average price of homes sold in August 2020 was a record $314,948, a notable gain of 34.3% from August 2019.
The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $279,087, rising 21.6% from the first eight months of 2019.
There were 203 new residential listings in August 2020. This was up 5.7% (11 listings) on a year-over-year basis.
Overall supply fell to an all-time low for the second consecutive month. Active residential listings numbered 228 units at the end of August. This was a substantial decline of 54.1% from the end of August 2019.
Months of inventory numbered 1.2 at the end of August 2020, down from the 3.5 months recorded at the end of August 2019 and below the long-run average of 5.6 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 present rate of sales activity.
The dollar value of all home sales in August 2020 was $59.5 million, surging 80% from the same month in 2019. This was a new record for the month of August and was also the largest dollar value of homes sold for any month in history.
The Cornwall and District Real Estate Board covers a large area, including the City of Cornwall and the Counties of Stormont, Glengarry, Prescott, and part of Dundas. It is uniquely situated next to the Quebec and U.S.A. borders, with the scenic St. Lawrence River running along the south and the Ottawa River along the north.