Last month, 541 homes were sold in Niagara Region. That compares to 609 homes in June of 2023. Photo Credit: iStock.
The Niagara Association of Realtors (NAR) released its June market update on the local housing market, noting that fewer homes were sold last month than during the same month in 2023.
Last month, 541 homes were sold in Niagara Region. That compares to 609 homes in June of 2023.
In June 1,460 new listings were added to the market, compared to 1,403 in June 2023. The average sale time was 36 days, up from 30 a year prior.
That means more homes went on the market compared to last year but fewer sold, pointing to a likely slowdown in Niagara’s housing sector. Similar statistics were reported in May.
Niagara Association of Realtors President Nathan Morissette noted in a press release that the number of houses on the market is quite high, pointing to significant opportunities for buyers.
“Our currently inventory is over 2800 Active Listings in Niagara and that is giving buyers more options to choose from and forcing sellers to be competitive and make sure they are positioned correctly to attract buyers,” said Morissette. “All levels of government need to work together to make housing attainable in Niagara.”
Morisette notes that although sales in June were down from June of 2023, the market largely held steady compared to May. He also points to a slight decrease in the Benchmark Price compared to May as a sign of the market being relatively level, although tilting in favour of buyers to some degree.
Furthermore, Morisette said that the housing market likely won’t heat up until the Bank of Canada triggers multiple rate cuts.
The benchmark price in Niagara Region for June was $651,800. That’s down slightly from May and it’s also nearly $17,000 lower than the $668,500 benchmark price was in June 2023.
A “benchmark” home is a home between the age of 51 and 99 with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, with a gross living area (above ground square footage) of 1,262 feet.
Within Niagara Region, the greatest number of new listings were found in St. Catharines (369), Niagara Falls (283), Welland (160) and Fort Erie (156). The largest year-over-year gain was in Pelham, which saw the number of houses on the market increase from 43 a year ago to 85 last month.
The average listing price was the highest in Niagara-on-the-Lake ($1,012,900), while the lowest average listing price was in Fort Erie ($556,200).
Houses tend to be on the market the shortest in West Lincoln, with an average for sale time of 24 days, while houses tend to be on the market the longest in Fort Erie, with an average sale time of 49 days.
Those numbers are somewhat different from a year ago. The average listing price was also the highest in Niagara-on-the-Lake in June 2023, but the average listing price was $1,051,800. The lowest average listing price in June 2023 was in Port Colborne-Wainfleet, which was $548,100. Port Colborne-Wainfleet remained the lowest in June 2024 at $549,800, but Fort Erie wasn’t far behind at $556,200.
Back in June 2023, the average length of houses being on the market was lowest in West Lincoln (14 days) and highest in Port Colborne-Wainfleet (46 days). West Lincoln still has the shortest average duration of houses on the market (24 days), while Fort Erie has the longest (49 days).
Jay Goldberg is the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. He previously served as 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.
