The Windsor-Essex County Association of Realtors is reporting a near 20 percent drop in home sales in May compared to the same time a year ago.
Maggie Chen, President of the Windsor-Essex County Association of Realtors, told AM800's The Shift that the local real estate market is "sluggish" right now and moving toward a "balanced market."
According to WECAR's monthly report, 464 homes were sold in May, down 19.8 percent compared to the 579 homes sold in May 2023.
Year-to-date sales were down 2.3 percent last month, with 2038 homes sold compared to 2086 during the first five months of 2023.
The association also reports that 1240 homes were listed for sale last month, an 11.9 percent increase over the 1108 homes listed during the same time a year ago.
Chen says that while inventory is definitely more than last month and more than last year, there is one issue impacting the overall numbers.
"What we have been seeing is that property listing on the market, let's say in February. But probably the seller did not get what he expected, so he withdrew the property from the market and put it back in late April or May," she says.
Chen says that the drop in sales is a little 'alarming' because the real estate market tends to balloon in the spring but it remains "sluggish."
"How we judge whether the market is active or not, not only looking at the numbers of listings but also looking at the number of sales, so if you have listings in the market but not that many sales, you could not call it an active market," she says. "It's going toward a more balanced market, I would say."
The Bank of Canada will announce its latest interest rate decision on Wednesday amid speculation the central bank will deliver its first rate cut in more than four years.
Chen says that an interest rate cut could give the real estate market the push it needs.
"The word on the street is that the rate will come down by 0.25 percent. Hopefully, it will give consumers more confidence in the market, and then we'll see a more active market," she says.
The average sale price in Windsor-Essex sat at $575,014 last month, down 4.1 percent compared to an average price of $599,826 in May 2023.
The average year-to-date price of a home moved to $566,955, up 0.6 percent compared to an average price of $570,586 during the first five months of 2023.
