Housing sales remain slow in Waterloo Region in January but prices climb

For the second straight month, home sales were very low but that did not prevent prices in Waterloo Region in January from climbing for the first time in a while, according to data released by local Realtors on Friday.

The Waterloo Region Association of Realtors says that just 297 homes changed hands in January, after the area saw 280 sold in December — a number that was the lowest in decades.

“Waterloo Region’s home sales in January were at their second lowest of any single month in well over a decade,” Megan Bell, president of WRAR stated.

“Home sales tend to be sluggish in January, and while we expected activity to ease to reflect economic challenges, this was a larger drop than originally anticipated.”

The average cost of buying a home in Kitchener-Waterloo surpassed the million-dollar mark in February 2022 and for the most part, had been declining almost every month since then.

But in January, the average sale price grew to $764,063, which is up 6.9 per cent from a month earlier when realtors reported the number to be $720,596.

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That number was buoyed by a jump in the price of detached homes, which climbed 7.6 per cent month-over-month to $888,487.

Bell noted that realtors are starting to see bidding wars return to homes at the lower end of the market.

“On a monthly basis, we saw the average sale price increase across all property types in January,” she said.

“I’m also noticing more multiple offers happening, especially on detached homes that are priced under $800,000.”

Earlier this week, the Bank of Canada announced another interest rate hike to set its trend-setting rate at 4.5 per cent, which is the highest it has been since 2007. Bell believes this will continue to affect the local housing market.

“While not a huge increase, the continuance of interest rate hikes is an ongoing factor in the reduction of home sales within the market,” she said.

While the number of sales continues to fall, the number of housing hitting the market has also slowed, according to the WRAR.

The realtors say 579 new listings were added in January which is down 13.3 per cent from a year earlier when the market was red-hot.