Record-Breaking Home Sales Continue

Greater Saint John’s real estate market continues to see record-breaking activity, according to the local real estate board.

A total of 319 homes were sold last month, a new May record and just three sales shy of the all-time record set in April.

That pushed the number of homes sold so far this year to a record 1,259 units, an increase of 59 per cent year-over-year.

Corey Breau, president of the Saint John Real Estate Board, said he expects the strong sales activity to continue for the foreseeable future.

“We see no signs of it slowing down, especially with restrictions loosening, we’ll see more people coming to New Brunswick,” Breau said in a phone interview Wednesday.

Breau said they are also starting to see new listings coming at a much faster pace than in recent months.

There were 392 new residential listings in May, surpassing the 375 mark for just the second time since the pandemic started.

“I think people are feeling comfortable with what’s going on with the COVID situation, they’re seeing their neighbours sell their houses quickly for record prices, so I think it’s bringing people to market,” said Breau.

Despite the increase in new home listings, the overall housing supply remains relatively thing, he said.

Active residential listings numbered 677 units at the end of May — the lowest level for this time of year in more than two decades.

Months of inventory — the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity — numbered 2.1 at the end of May, well below the long-run average of 9.7 months for this time of year.

“It’s gonna be hard for the overall inventory to catch up if the sales keep at the pace they’re going,” said Breau.

The average home sale price in May was $258,000, down from $268,644 in April but considerably higher than this time last year.

The dollar value of all home sales was $82.3 million, setting a new record for the month of May.

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 Saint John, Kings, Charlotte and portions of Queens.