For the first time in six months, the Kitchener-Waterloo Association of Realtors reported a decrease in the average cost of buying a home.
“The skyrocketing prices of the last two months took a bit of a breather in March, with the overall average price dipping five per cent compared to what we saw in February,” said KWAR president Megan Bell.
“While it is too soon to draw conclusions from just one month of home sales, I know many will be comforted to see a levelling off on the average price, no matter how incremental.”
The realtors say the average sale price of a home in March fell to $960,181 from a record high of $1,007,109 in February. This represents a decrease of about 5.6 per cent.
This number is still a slight tick above January, when KWAR reported the number to be $955,665.
Detached homes continue to sell at well above the million-dollar mark as the average price last month came in at $1,132,637.
While this is still a dizzying number for many Kitchener residents, it represents a 6.4 per cent decrease from February when that number was reported to be $1,214,067.
Some 725 homes changed hands across the area last month, which is a decrease of 25 per cent from a year earlier, when a record was established for monthly home sales across the region.
The previous 10-year average for home sales in March in the area is 599.
Bell said that realtors are starting to see signs that the market may be cooling somewhat.
“As the province feels its way out of the pandemic, we are beginning to see some very preliminary signs of a potential cooling,” she said.
“We are not seeing quite as many multiple offers and some offers are coming in with conditions. Of course, when we say cooling, we’re talking about a market that has been scorching hot which is why we are pleased to see this happening.”