The price of buying a home in Kitchener-Waterloo continued to climb dramatically in January, according to the Kitchener-Waterloo Association of Realtors (KWAR).
The realtors association says the average home price was up 15.7 per cent to $561,029 last month in comparison to January 2019.
The association points to a lack of available supply as part of the reason for the hefty increase. Only 464 new properties were listed in January, a year-over-year decrease of 21.1 per cent, KWAR said.
“Slower January sales are a result of fewer homes being put up for sale,” KWAR president Colleen Koehler said in a statement. “This is causing further price acceleration as we have enough willing and able home buyers contending for those few homes that are available.”
Detached homes saw a hefty 18.8 per cent increase year over year as they rose to an average price of $670,944. Condos also saw a massive 26.1 per cent increase to an average price of $382,636. Prices for townhomes and semis climbed to $439,765 (up 20.3 per cent) and $484,190 (up 18.7 per cent), respectively.
The lack of available supply in the market also led to a decrease in overall sales.
Only 281 homes changed hands last month, which was 8.2 per cent fewer than December and 3.6 per cent below the previous 10-year average.
“Consumers can’t buy what’s not there. The available number of homes for sale, or lack thereof, continued to evade home buyers in January,” Koehler said. “There is no doubt we would be reporting more sales if we had the inventory to match the demand.”
On Jan. 31, there were only 392 residential properties on the market, which is 63.7 per cent below the previous 10-year average of 1,080 listings.
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