Saint John Real Estate Board MLS® home sales continue to decline in November as new listings hold steady

The number of homes sold through the MLS® System of the Saint John Real Estate Board totaled 152 units in November 2022. This was a substantial decline of 38.7% from November 2021.

Home sales were 21.6% below the five-year average and 6.3% below the 10-year average for the month of November.

On a year-to-date basis, home sales totaled 2,334 units over the first 11 months of the year. This was a large decline of 21.1% from the same period in 2021.

“Sales activity remained subdued in November, with year-over-year declines appearing even more outsized due to last November posting the highest level for this month in history,” said Kevin Donovan, President of the Saint John Real Estate Board. “New listings have been fairly stable this year, although even with demand at subdued levels there hasn’t been much liftoff in overall inventories, which are still sitting around record lows. This perpetual lack of supply may help to explain why MLS® HPI benchmark prices have been declining at a softer pace than many other markets across the country.”

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 $264,000 in November 2022, up by 4.3% compared to November 2021.

The benchmark price for single-family homes was $264,800, an increase of 4.3% on a year-over-year basis in November. By comparison, the benchmark apartment price was $217,100, increasing by 6.1% from year-ago levels.

The average price of homes sold in November 2022 was $267,511, increasing by 10% from November 2021.

The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $292,632, a gain of 15.4% from the first 11 months of 2021.

The dollar value of all home sales in November 2022 was $40.7 million, down sharply by 32.6% from the same month in 2021.

The number of new listings saw a minor increase of 1% (two listings) from November 2021. There were 195 new residential listings in November 2022.

New listings were 4.4% above the five-year average and 9.8% below the 10-year average for the month of November.

Active residential listings numbered 486 units on the market at the end of November, a moderate decrease of 8.5% from the end of November 2021. Active listings haven’t been this low in the month of November in more than two decades.

Active listings were 46% below the five-year average and 64.1% below the 10-year average for the month of November.

Months of inventory numbered 3.2 at the end of November 2022, up from the 2.1 months recorded at the end of November 2021 and below the long-run average of 9.5 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.