The Bank of Canada’s anticipated interest rate hike in July has helped lead to an uptick in the Kitchener-Waterloo real estate market.
“With interest rates expected to increase in July, we’re seeing strong demand for homes in Waterloo region,” said Tony Schmidt, KWAR President, in a statement Monday.
READ MORE: Bank of Canada keeps interest rate at 1.25%, but economists predict hike in July
His organization released sales figures for May, which showed increased sales in May over April, although the figures still remain soft in comparison to what was seen in 2017.
In April, 616 residential properties sold, while last month 692 homes sold. That figure is a 15.3 per cent reduction from the 817 houses that changed hands a year earlier.
While that seems like a drastic drop, May’s total is still above the 10-year average (625) for home sales in Kitchener-Waterloo.
“Although unit sales were down substantially compared to last year’s manic market, May was still a strong month of home buying and selling in Kitchener-Waterloo and area,” Schmidt said.
READ MORE: GTA home sales down 22.2% compared to May of last year
Prices continue to be below the historic 2017 market for detached homes (2.4 per cent to $482,873), although the same cannot be said for the condo market which has seen a year-over-year increase of 2.7 percent. Townhomes (1.3 per cent) and semis (2 per cent) sales figures are also up as well.
While there has been a decrease in sales, there has also been a decline in the number of homes on the market as well, with only 1,068 homes being listed.
It has also taken longer to sell a property, as on average, homes remained on the market in May 2018 for 20 days, up from 11 days a year earlier.
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