Saint John Real Estate Board MLS® home sales down from last October

The number of homes sold through the MLS® System of the Saint John Real Estate Board totaled 204 units in October 2022, falling 29.2% from October 2021.

Home sales were 14.8% below the five-year average and 3.9% above the 10-year average for the month of October.

On a year-to-date basis, home sales totaled 2,183 units over the first 10 months of the year. This was a decline of 19.4% from the same period in 2021.

“Although down from 2021, October MLS® home sales managed to post the third highest total for any October in history. That is not to say there hasn’t been a definite slowdown in the pace of home sales in our region over the last few months though.” said Kevin Donovan, President of the Saint John Real Estate Board. “The small decrease in the number of sales could just as well be attributed to the yearly fall seasonal slowdown as it may be due to the decline in demand other parts of the country have recently experienced. On the listings side the song remains the same – below-average newly listed properties have extended the recent downward trend of available inventory. Active listings are still significantly below the long run average. Consequently, market conditions have pushed our local market further away from balanced territory back in favour of sellers. Rest assured we are keeping a close eye on the existing trends for any indication of what is to come as we move into the end of the year.”

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 $266,900 in October 2022, up by 8% compared to October 2021.

The benchmark price for single-family homes was $267,700, an increase of 7.9% on a year-over-year basis in October. By comparison, the benchmark apartment price was $217,300, increasing by 14.4% from year-ago levels.

The average price of homes sold in October 2022 was $280,996, edging up 0.6% from October 2021.

The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $294,328, a gain of 15.6% from the first 10 months of 2021.

The dollar value of all home sales in October 2022 was $57.3 million, down sharply by 28.8% from the same month in 2021.

The number of new listings saw a significant decline of 36.3% from October 2021. There were 200 new residential listings in October 2022. This was the lowest number of new listings added in the month of October in two decades.

New listings were 25% below the five-year average and 29.2% below the 10-year average for the month of October.

Active residential listings numbered 520 units on the market at the end of October, a notable decline of 19.8% from the end of October 2021. Active listings haven’t been this low in the month of October in more than two decades.

Active listings were 48.4% below the five-year average and 64.7% below the 10-year average for the month of October.

Months of inventory numbered 2.5 at the end of October 2022, up from the 2.3 months recorded at the end of October 2021 and below the long-run average of 8.7 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.