Slumping sales amid spring listing surge in Windsor-Essex real estate market

New monthly housing statistics reveal real estate market trends may be ready to shift, according to the president of the Windsor-Essex County Association of Realtors.

On Thursday, WECAR released its data for April 2024, which show slumping sales amid the spring surge of listings.

“It looks promising for both buyers and sellers,” said Maggie Chen, the president of WECAR.

New listings shot up by 1,082 last month, representing a 22.54 per cent increase from the same time last year. However, that was paired with what Chen called a “significant” drop in the number of properties sold — falling 7.76 per cent year-over-year.

Not only are there fewer homes being sold, but runaway price increases have also slowed and stabilized.

The average sale price climbed less than half a per cent in April — just 0.47 per cent — to bring the final figure to $581,194.

The average year-to-date price of a home increased 2.4 per cent to $568,421 compared to an average price of $554,326 during the first four months of 2023.

The message from Chen to buyers banking on a real estate crash — don’t hold your breathe.

“Apparently, the market is not crashing; so, buyers should come to the realization that you should not wait for it anymore,” Chen told CTV News. “The average sale price is steadily, slowly climbing up.”

She also has words of caution for sellers following the compilation of the latest data.

Chen said sellers hoping to get the same price the market saw at its height in March 2022 may be chasing a horizon that never comes, which she says has set the stage for buyer-seller standoffs in the market.

“I think the proportion is getting smaller,” said Chen. “The sellers are getting a reality check. After almost two years of a waiting game, they’re starting to realize, ‘Okay, this is the market.’”

Chen said there is 3.22 months worth of inventory, indicating the Windsor-Essex real estate market tips in favour of sellers at the moment.

There were 1,459 available listings in Windsor-Essex at the time of the report.

SHIFTING STRATEGY

The continued pricing strategy in Windsor-Essex that sees homes listed below the expected sale price, albeit a recent phenomenon, is somewhat perplexing to Chen.

She says it is confusing to buyers as sellers aim to generate bidding wars for their properties.

“‘They’re asking for $499,000 and then final sale price is $565,000, what do I do?’” explained Chen. “You have to look at what the value of the property is.”

Chen said with interest rates remaining at elevated levels, prices stabilized, and more posted listings, a return to more familiar real estate bidding may be on the way for Windsor-Essex but, isn’t likely to return until toward the end of the year at the earliest.

“I do not know why it’s still not going toward a traditional selling strategy as of yet,” said Chen. “If we price it traditionally, it’s not selling.”

Unfortunately, the report doesn’t contain much upside for first-time home buyers.

Prices remain elevated and demand strong, keeping many properties unaffordable and out of reach for would-be house shoppers.