The benchmark price for May was $653,900. That’s up from April, but it’s also nearly $10,000 lower than the $663,800 benchmark price was in May of 2023.
The Niagara Association of Realtors (NAR) released its May market update on the local housing market, noting that fewer homes were sold last month than during the same month in 2023.
Last month, 602 homes were sold in Niagara Region. That compares to 683 homes in May of 2023.
In May 1,568 new listings were added to the market, compared to 1,318 in 2023. The average sale time was 37 days, up from 30 back in May of 2023.
That means more homes went on the market compared to last year but fewer sold, pointing to a possible slowdown in Niagara’s housing sector.
Niagara Association of Realtors President Nathan Morissette noted in a press release that now is an ideal time for buyers to get into the market, with interest rates ticking down and a slowdown in housing sales compared to last year.
“Consumers who have been waiting on the sidelines should be in the market now with the Bank of Canada announcement reducing the interest rate,” said Morisette. “This has given both buyers and sellers the confidence they needed.”
Morisette notes that although sales in May were down from May of 2023, the market largely held steady compared to April. He also points to an increase in the Benchmark Price compared to April as a positive sign on things to come.
Morisette also called on governments to take action to ease the affordability crisis.
“Although the rate decrease is a positive sign, we are still in a housing attainability crisis and need all levels of government to work together to get more homes built, streamline the process by reducing red tape and get creative to make housing attainable in Niagara.”
The benchmark price for May was $653,900. That’s up from April, but it’s also nearly $10,000 lower than the $663,800 benchmark price was in May of 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 (389), Niagara Falls (299), Fort Erie (189) and Welland (177). The largest year-over-year gain was in Niagara Falls, which saw the number of houses on the market increase from 248 a year ago to 299 last month.
The average listing price was the highest in Niagara-on-the-Lake ($1,025,100), while the lowest average listing price was in Fort Erie ($549,300).
Houses tend to be on the market the shortest in West Lincoln, with an average for sale time of 27 days, while houses tend to be on the market the longest in Niagara-on-the-Lake, with an average sale time of 46 days.
Those numbers are somewhat different from a year ago. The average listing price was also the highest in Niagara-on-the-Lake in May of 2023, but the average listing price was $1,056,000. The lowest average listing price in May of 2023 was in Port Colborne/Wainfleet, which was $542,300. Port/Colborne/Wainfleet remained the lowest in May of 2024 at $542,700, but Fort Erie wasn’t far behind at $549,300.
Back in May of 2023, the average length of houses being on the market was lowest in St. Catharines (19 days) and highest in Fort Erie (48 days). West Lincoln now has the shortest average duration of houses on the market (27 days), while Niagara-on-the-Lake has the longest (46 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.
