May 2023 Residential Real Estate Market Update for Windsor/Essex County
The statistics are now in from WECAR (The Windsor Essex County Association of REALTORS ®) for May 2023. Compared to last month there were gains in new listings, sales, and the average sale price is back up over $600k – Hello Spring! Let’s take a look at the details …
The new average sale price for May 2023 was $602,591. That’s a -6.04% decrease from this time a year ago and an increase of +4.50% from the previous month (April 2023 average price was $576,654). *(The Median sale price for May 2023 was $545,000).
There were 1,094 new listings in May 2023 compared to 860 new listings in April 2023. This was a decrease of -24.91% from the same time last year and an increase of +27.21% from the previous month.
There were 546 sales in May 2023 compared with 459 sales in April 2023 which was a -10.93% decrease compared to a year ago and an increase of +18.95% from the previous month.
MOST POPULAR HOME STYLES (May 2023)
1st – Bungalow (126) avg price $502,067
2nd – 2 Storey (89) avg price $788,333
3rd – Ranch (80) avg price $641,899
4th – 1.5 Storey (67) avg price $475,696
5th – Raised Ranch (52) avg price $680,473
Wondering what sales activity in your price category looked like in May 2023? here’s the breakdown:
Sales by Price Category
$0 – $159,900 (2)
$160,000 – $299,999 (32)
$300,000 – $449,999 (168)
$450,000 – $599,999 (154)
$600,000 – $749,999 (95)
$750,000 – $899,999 (72)
$900,000 – $1,199,999 (41)
$1,200,000 – 1,399,999 (9)
$1,400,000 + (11)
If you’re wondering what the May 2023 listings/sales looked like where you live in Essex County, here’s the breakdown:
Listings vs Sales by Area
00 – Windsor, LaSalle, Tecumseh – (List 636 – Sold 341)
10 – Amherstburg – (List 94 – Sold 53)
20 – Colchester / Harrow – (List 31 – Sold 6)
30 – Kingsville- (List 57 – Sold 27)
40 – Leamington – (List 70 – Sold 26)
50 – Wheatley – (List 12 – Sold 3)
60 – Lakeshore West – (List 65 – Sold 25)
70 – Essex – (List 50 – Sold 24)
80 – Lakeshore East – (List 28 – Sold 15)
90 – Tilbury – (List 16 – Sold 13)
Here’s what the average price has looked like for the month of May historically:
2023 – $602,951
2022 – $647,331
2021 – $563,409
2020 – $384,311
2019 – $334,446
2018 – $301,670
2017 – $282,134
2016 – $235,011
Bank of Canada Interest Rate Announcements
2023
June 7, 2023 TBA
April 12, 2023 (Target 4.50%) (no change)
March 8, 2023 (Target 4.50%) (no change)
January 25, 2023 (Target 4.50%) (+0.25%)
2022
December 7, 2022 (Target 4.25%) (+0.50%)
October 26, 2022 (Target 3.75%) (+0.50%)
September 7, 2022 (Target 3.25%) (+0.75%)
July 13, 2022 (Target 2.50%) (+1.00%)
June 1, 2022 (Target 1.50%) (+0.50%)
April 13, 2022 (Target 1.00%) (+0.50%)
March 2, 2022 (Target 0.50%) (+0.25%)
January 26, 2022 (Target 0.25%) (no change)
Canadian Inflation
2023
April 2023 (4.4%)
March 2023 (4.3%)
February 2023 (5.2%)
January 2023 (5.9%)
2022
December 2022 (6.3%)
November 2022 (6.8%)
October 2022 (6.9%)
September 2022 (6.9%)
August 2022 (7.0%)
July 2022 (7.6%)
June 2022 (8.1%)
May 2022 (7.7%)
April 2022 (6.8%)
March 2022 (6.7%)
February 2022 (5.7%)
January 2022 (5.1%)
Is it a Buyer’s or Seller’s Market?
Holding steady … at both. Inventory continues to be lower than it should be for our spring market (down 25% from last year) even with 27% more listings than we had in April. Demand is continuing to rise (19% more sales in May than we had in April yet still down 11% year over year). May 2023 saw 2.0 Months of Inventory which is still fairly low compared to the 3.3% months we were seeing in late 2022, so using this metric we are still in a Seller’s Market. Once again, our Sales to New Listings Ratio for April was in the Balanced Market range at 51.3%.
At the time of writing, June 2nd, many agents are beginning to feel activity slow slightly which would be typical of moving into the summer market. At this point it does feel as though we are continuing to level out a bit which is what was predicted at the beginning of 2023 and if things continue as expected, prices will rise slowly throughout the rest of the year. With the Target inflation rate at 2-3%, we had been making great strides in achieving those numbers, that is until April 2023 when inflation actually rose from 4.3% to 4.4%. Will the Bank of Canada increase rates on June 7th? Time will tell but with increasing rates really the only tool in the BoC’s toolbox to combat inflation, there’s a good chance they may.
Is it a good time to sell?
Average price has now made its way back into the $600’s territory from its lowest point in the past year of $473,642 back in Dec of 2022, so good recovery. We’re still seeing a considerable number of listings utilizing the list low–sell-high strategy with daily sales still in the 65-70% range using the under list strategy compared to more traditional pricing strategy. We’re still experiencing many listings selling with multiple offers especially in the average to below average price points. Even some homes in the $1M+ range have been selling over asking with multiple offers. There were 20 luxury homes that sold over $1.2M in the month of May! Right now, there is still good demand from Buyers since interest rates have levelled off, however many experts have indicated that there is a good chance that the Bank of Canada may increase interest rates on June 7th affecting variable rate mortgages and fixed-rate mortgages have already gone up in recent days. Combined with our typical slower summer months, If you are thinking of selling, right now may be your best opportunity in the short term.
Is it a good time to buy?
With immigration numbers continuing to rise, not enough inventory both in sales and rentals, and average sale price on the upswing. Waiting for interest rates and/or prices to come down do not appear to be something we’ll see any time in the near future. If you find something you like that you can afford, this may be a good time to make the move. Even if it’s not your dream home, it could be step one. Continuing to pump your cash into your landlord’s property while watching the real estate market continue to climb may not be the best move, however, everyone’s situation is different. Sometimes the right move is to wait. Your REALTOR can go over options with you and find the right solution for your unique situation.
What about new homes?
Over the past 6-8 weeks I’ve heard from a number of builders listing agents who have noticed an uptick in new construction interest. One of the builders our Team represents, Lakeland Homes, has a number of new projects launching as early as next week. We have lots available in Amherstburg, Cottam, Essex, Lakeshore – single family and townhome/semi’s. Contact one of our agents today to learn more about upcoming developments in Windsor/Essex!
Does all of this information apply to everyone?
Real Estate is very difficult to generalize. While averages are great for painting a picture of the general health of the marketplace, many factors are present that determine market value including location, timing/season, pandemic status, condition of home, neighbourhood etc. I would be happy to sit down with you for a free, no obligation consultation and discuss your specific, unique situation.
Call me at 226-347-6945 or email:steve@steveblais.com
Steve Blais, Sales rep and Team General Manager
Tam Angie Goulet and Associates, RE/MAX Preferred Realty Ltd. – Brokerage
*Median Sales Price is when you take all of the sale prices listed in numerical order and pick the price in the exact middle of the list, if there is an even number of sales, it is the average of the two middle prices.
