Northumberland Real Estate Market Update
Last updated July 7, 2024, at 7:45 p.m.
Northumberland’s real estate market has wrapped up June of 2024 with balanced market conditions across the region as inventory levels have risen to their highest levels on record.
The good news for sellers is that prices are actually rising in some locations, which may be a signal that buyers from the west (Durham Region and the GTA) are getting frustrated with their buying power and competition there. I reviewed the details for June, and there are a substantial number of buyers represented by brokerages outside of Northumberland.
On the other hand, there is much more inventory for buyers to choose from right now, which bodes well for them.
Mortgage rates are still very high compared to just a couple of years ago, though they are down some, making getting a mortgage pre-approval (and rate lock) essential for buyers who haven’t purchased yet.
Northumberland Real Estate Market June 2024
Supply levels vary throughout the region, with 4.1 months of inventory (MOI) for the entire area. This means that at the current pace of sales, with no new listings, all inventory would be sold within this time frame. There are much higher levels in communities outside of Port Hope and Cobourg.
In June, residential transactions reported had selling prices averaging 752,620 in Northumberland, with the average property selling at 99.3% of list price (SP/LP). This is a 0.7% increase from last month and is down 2.7% from last June.
The stronger performance in Port Hope and Cobourg areas shows that market strength in Durham Region is spilling over into the western parts of Northumberland that are close to highway 401.
Here is a look at average home selling prices each month over the last three years: Prices climbed at a healthy pace over the first several months of last year, then fell through September before climbing in October and November before falling off in December then climbing again in January and slowly since then.
The following chart shows average daily selling prices for detached homes across Northumberland in the past 90 days.
The average selling price of detached homes this month is just under 770,000.
The selling price to list price ratios in most Northumberland communities show figures close to 99%, as shown in the table at the top of the page. This is close to the 100% mark, showing that buyers are more active, and multiple offer situations are working into the mix.
One clear sign that conditions are tightening is the number of listings with offers being held to a specific date. This strategy is intended to pressure buyers (when there is a perceived shortage of listings) and to generate multiple offers. Watch for these to increase, especially in Port Hope and Cobourg, and at lower price points.
Also, the sale price to list price ratio has averaged near the 99% mark. This shows that most properties are selling without multiple offers. Note in the above chart where the red bars appear. For those days, the selling prices were above 100% - signalling that bidding situations made selling prices higher than list prices, on average.
Most local communities are now averaging close to the 100% mark, indicating more buyer competition there, with only Alnwick/Haldimand and Trent Hills being significantly lower.
The SP/LP ratio has been dropping, which correlates to the increased months of inventory levels.
Days on market (DOM) averaged 29.2. DOM is the number of days it takes for a property to be sold firm, or without any outstanding conditions.
This figure has dropped since the winter months, but has been creeping upward recently.
Should new listings rise at a pace that is faster than current sales, then there would be more inventory for the pool of buyers to choose from, which will have the effect of reducing the sale price to list price ratio, then months of inventory stat, which leans the market closer to a balanced market.
Active listings are now at a high point for the past three years, rising steadily since winter. There is more choice for buyers, which helps to explain the lower amount of competition on listings (with a dropping sale price to list price ratio).
More active listings make all the steps taken to compete among selling properties more critical. When listings were more scarce, (including now but at lower price points) buyers were compelled to reduce expectations on location, property condition, etc. They also may have pressure in competitive situations to remove conditions on their offers.
The sales rate for June has increased by 6.8% compared to last month and is up 6.1% compared to this time last year, with a pace of 5.2 units sold daily.
The following chart shows the daily sales volume for the past 3 months.
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Buyers will still find multiple offer situations in some locations and price ranges, particularly at lower price points. They are highly advised to get prepared - have their mortgage preapproval ready before looking at homes, and be prepared to view homes via photos and virtual tours as soon as they reach the market. With interest rates being volatile, and mortgage qualification rules under review, locking in a rate is more important than ever. Speak with your agent to discuss the process to move forward.
Potential sellers should be working with their agent to identify ways to set their home apart from competitive listings while reaching the widest possible audience.
If you are interested in seeing values for an area not shown or are interested in other figures, please comment below or contact me. As always, give me a call anytime if you would like to discuss this further without any obligation.
More Northumberland and Area Real Estate Articles
Peterborough Region Real Estate Market Report
Durham Region Property Tax Rates - GTA and Ontario
Northumberland Real Estate Market Report - April 2024
About the Author
John Owen, Broker, RE/MAX Impact
John is an award-winning broker with RE/MAX Impact Realty and was their number-one agent in GCI for 2022.
Direct - 905-434-0067
Email - johnowen@remax.net
Member, Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA), Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB).
The recent amalgamation of the former Quinte & District Association of Realtors (QDAR) and Northumberland Hills Association of Realtors (NHAR) with the Durham Region Association of Realtors (DRAR) has resulted in a new, larger board representing all of these regions called the Central Lakes Association of Realtors (CLAR).
The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for all of these regions is now hosted by the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) and will make the availability and sharing of MLS data across all of these areas much easier, to the benefit of buyers and sellers, and the real estate community.
Figures shown are for the following property types unless otherwise specified: detached, semi-detached, condo townhouse, condo apartment, link, att/row/townhouse, co-op apartment, detached condo and co-ownership apartment.
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