There were 602 sales in Niagara Region last month. That’s up from 560 sales in April of 2023.
The Niagara Association of Realtors (NAR) released its April market update on the local housing market, noting that more homes were on the market last month than a year prior.
In April, 1,396 residential properties were on the market, compared to 991 in 2023. The average sale time was 40 days last month, a 29 per cent increase over April 2023.
There were 602 sales in the region last month as well. That’s up from 560 sales in April of 2023.
“The Niagara Market continues the upward surge,” said Niagara Association of Realtors President Nathan Morrissette.
Morrissette noted that the number of new listings, the number of sales and the benchmark price all increased from March to April. He also indicated that the Niagara market could feel more pressure if interest rates are cut later this year, as anticipated.
“As always Buyers and Sellers really need to navigate the real estate market with a local realtor to gain the knowledge and insight of this market, that continues to see variations within its 12 municipalities,” said Morrissette.
The benchmark price for April was $644,700. That’s up from March, but it’s also 1.4 per cent lower than the $654,000 benchmark price was in April 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 (386), Niagara Falls (280), Fort Erie (179) and Welland (133). The largest year-over-year gain was in St. Catharines, which saw the number of houses on the market increase from 291 a year ago to 386 last month.
The average listing price was the highest in Niagara-on-the-Lake ($1,016,800), while the lowest average listing price was in Fort Erie ($547,500).
Houses tend to be on the market the shortest in St. Catharines, with an average for sale time of 32 days, while houses tend to be on the market the longest in Niagara-on-the-Lake, with an average sale time of 61 days.
Those numbers are somewhat different from a year ago. The average listing price was also the highest in Niagara-on-the-Lake in April of 2023, but the average listing price was $1,014,700. The lowest average listing price in April of 2023 was in Port Colborne/Wainfleet, which was $519,400. Port/Colborne/Wainfleet remained the lowest in April of 2024 at $539,500, but Fort Erie wasn’t far behind at $547,500.
Back in April of 2023, the average length of houses being on the market was lowest in Thorold (28 days) and highest in West Lincoln (64 days). St. Catharines now has the shortest average duration of houses on the market (32 days), while Niagara-on-the-Lake remains the longest (61 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.
