Saint John MLS® home sales slightly below long term average in July

The number of homes sold through the MLS® System of the Saint John Real Estate Board totaled 229 units in July 2022. This was a sharp decrease of 24.2% from July 2021.

Home sales were 12.8% below the five-year average and 2.1% below the 10-year average for the month of July.

On a year-to-date basis, home sales totaled 1,556 units over the first seven months of the year. This was down sharply by 16.5% from the same period in 2021.

“MLS® home sales continued to moderate in July, with sales totals coming in slightly below average for the month,” said Kevin Donovan, President of the Saint John Real Estate Board. “The number of newly listed properties was also slightly below average for this time of year. The series of recent interest rate hikes are starting to stunt demand for MLS® listed properties across the country and it was only a matter of time before we started to see the slowdown in our region. Although still technically a seller’s market, the shift in market conditions has eased the upward pressure on prices. Both the average price and MLS® HPI Composite Benchmark price declined in July, with the MLS® HPI posting the first month-over-month decline since late 2021. We are keeping a close eye on the conditions in our local market for any definitive trend that may provide insight into what to expect over the coming months.”

The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) tracks price trends far more accurately than is possible using average or median price measures. The overall MLS® HPI composite benchmark price was $291,900 in July 2022, a gain of 25.8% compared to July 2021.

The benchmark price for single-family homes was $293,300, up by 25.6% on a year-over-year basis in July. By comparison, the benchmark apartment price was $203,400, a jump of 44.3% from year-ago levels.

The average price of homes sold in July 2022 was $276,437, an increase of 12.2% from July 2021.

The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $296,965, a sizable gain of 18.9% from the first seven months of 2021.

The dollar value of all home sales in July 2022 was $63.3 million, a substantial decline of 14.9% from the same month in 2021.

The number of new listings saw a decline of 9.3% from July 2021. There were 312 new residential listings in July 2022. This was the lowest number of new listings added in the month of July in more than 15 years.

New listings were 14% below the five-year average and 21% below the 10-year average for the month of July.

Active residential listings numbered 589 units on the market at the end of July, down sharply by 22.4% from the end of July 2021. Active listings haven’t been this low in the month of July in more than two decades.

Active listings were 48.3% below the five-year average and 64.8% below the 10-year average for the month of July.

Months of inventory numbered 2.6 at the end of July 2022, up from the 2.5 months recorded at the end of July 2021 and below the long-run average of 7.6 months for this time of year. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.

The Saint John Real Estate Board is an association of approximately 300 REALTORS® that provides services to and sets standards for members. The Saint John Real Estate Board covers the southern part of New Brunswick to the U.S. border in St. Stephen, and includes the counties of St. John, Kings, Charlotte and portions of Queens County.