The Niagara real estate market is slowly starting to regain momentum, according to the Niagara Association of Realtors.
Its monthly report, which was released earlier this month, shows that home sales increased in May compared to April by 8.9 per cent.
A total of 602 homes were sold in Niagara Region in May, which is up from 553 homes in April.
“May’s numbers reflect a market that is gradually regaining momentum,” said Chair Lisa Taylor. “Buyers are adjusting to current interest rates, and the increase in new listings is giving them more options to consider. With a sales-to-new listings ratio of 31.5 per cent, Niagara remains in overall buyer’s market territory, making strategic pricing more critical than ever for sellers.”
The average length of time it took to sell a house in Niagara Region in May was 38 days, a 7.3 per cent decrease from April.
“The slight drop in average days on market is a positive sign that many sellers are paying attention to the price and successfully motivating buyers off the fence,” Taylor added.
The benchmark price for a home in Niagara Region was up slightly in May compared to April. The benchmark price in May was $628,300, which is up 2.2 per cent from a month prior.
Overall, there were 1,907 new residential listings in May, which is up 21.1 per cent compared to April, when just 1,575 new listings came onto the market.
Those numbers reflect the fact that more sellers are willing to put the “for sale” sign up and try to get in on the market.
There is a significant variation amongst Niagara Region municipalities when it comes to listings, sales, the benchmark price, and average days on the market.
St. Catharines had the most new listings in May, with 399, followed closely by Niagara Falls with 351. Welland rounded out the top three, with 241 new listings.
In terms of sales, the municipality with the most homes sold in May was St. Catharines, with 176. Following St. Catharines was Niagara Falls with 90 and Welland with 72.
For the benchmark price, the highest benchmark price in Niagara Region was in Niagara-on-the-Lake, at $970,100, while the lowest benchmark price was in Port Colborne/Wainfleet at $550,800.
Finally, in terms of average days on the market, homes in Port Colborne/Wainfleet spent the most time on the market in May out of all of Niagara Region’s lower-tier municipalities, with an average market stay of 63 days. Homes sold the fastest in St. Catharines, where the average time on market was 26 days.
Despite a slight turn around in May, experts are warning that trade uncertainty likely means the real estate market will remain softer this year than in recent years past.
Jay Goldberg is the Canadian Affairs Manager at the Consumer Choice Center. He previously served as the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and a policy fellow at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Jay holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
