Number of Kitchener Waterloo home sales up. Prices down.

Residential Home Sales Up

Kitchener Waterloo residential home sales in October are up 11.6% compared to last month’s results, and increased 4.6% from October 2011. Looks like the KW real estate market is not as bad as everyone seems to hope! Kitchener Waterloo area home sales rebounded in October, with 500 homes trading through the Multiple Listing System (MLS®) of the Kitchener-Waterloo Association of REALTORS® (KWAR). October’s residential sales included 322 detached homes (up 1.6%), 48 semi-detached (up 54.8%), 33 townhouses (up 32%), and 92 condominium units (down 7.1%).

Average Sales Price Down

The average sales price of all residential sales in October was $302,656 a 1.5% decrease from the average sale price recorded in October 2011. Single detached properties sold for an average price of $339,592, a 3.8% decrease relative to one year ago.

Surprisingly, the average prices for townhouses and condominiums both increased last month, with townhouses gaining 10.7% to $287,133, and condominium units increasing 7% to $215,831 compared to the same month last year.

On a year-to-date basis, residential home sales are practically on par with 2011 – with a total of 5,443 sales recorded. The average price of all residential properties sold year-to date is $310,739, an increase of 3.2% over 2011.

Of course the figures above are averages. The average sale price is based on the total dollar volume of all residential properties sold. That means if a lot of higher priced homes are selling, the average sale price will be skewed upward. That said, average sale price information can be useful in establishing long term trends, but should not be used as an indicator that specific properties have increased or decreased in value.

We’ve seen the number of days on the market for listing increase indicating that buyers are taking more time to make decisions about which home to purchase. According to this story of a couple of weeks ago, Kitchener Waterloo currently has a balanced real estate market, however this could change with the economy and with people’s perception of  where the market is going.

 

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