Home sales recorded through the MLS® System of the Kingston & Area Real Estate Association came in below year-ago levels in September 2012.
Residential sales numbered 219 units in September, a decrease of 20 per cent from the same month last year. Sales of all types of properties numbered 247 units in September 2012, down 17 per cent on a year-over-year basis.
“There’s no doubt that demand has geared down a bit in the wake of new mortgage rules, but it’s important to recognize that this September suffered from what’s known as a trading day effect, with just 20 weekdays compared to 22 last September, so we have to consider the size of the year-over-year decline in that context,” said Al Sytsma, President of the Kingston & Area Real Estate Association. “This has been widely acknowledged by economists, who have noted that after seasonally adjusting the data to account for this effect, activity was actually a bit better in September than it was in August in many parts of the country, and that includes the region covered by the Kingston & Area Real Estate Association.”
A total of 2,743 homes have traded hands so far this year. This remains six per cent ahead of the first three quarters last year, and stands above levels in the same period in 2009 and 2010 as well.
The average price for homes sold through the Association’s MLS® System in September 2012 was $260,818. This was up two per cent from September 2011.
There were 519 new residential listings on the Association’s MLS® System in September 2012, down five per cent from year-ago levels.
Active residential listings on the Association’s MLS® System numbered 1,483 units at the end of September, edging down one per cent from the same time last year.
Months of inventory numbered 6.8 at the end of September 2012, up from 5.5 months at the end of September 2011, but still below the long-run average for this time of the year. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.
The value of all home sales was $57.1 million in September 2012, down 19 per cent from a year earlier. The total value of all property sales decreased 15 per cent on a year-over-year basis to $63 million.
The information contained in this report has been prepared by
The Canadian Real Estate Association, in co-operation with the Kingston and Area Real Estate Association.
The information has been drawn from sources deemed to be reliable, but the accuracy and completeness of the information is not guaranteed.
In providing this information, neither The Canadian Real Estate Association nor
the Kingston and Area Real Estate Association assumes any responsibility or liability.
Copyright © 2012 The Canadian Real Estate Association. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without written permission.
