Southern N.B. Home Sales Plunge In April

Home sales in the Saint John region plunged in April as the housing market grappled with the impacts of COVID-19.

Numbers from the Saint John Real Estate Board show 128 homes were sold last month, a drop of 29 per cent compared to last April.

Corey Breau, president of the board, said they have not seen April home sales this low in more than 15 years.

“This was the first full month to feel the effects of social distancing measures and uncertainty arising from COVID-19,” said Breau, in a statement.

April also saw the lowest number of new residential listing for the month in more than 30 years. There were 145 new listings, which was down nearly 59 per cent year-over-year.

But despite the dismal sales activity last month, year-to-date sales are up 7.5 per cent from last year to 602 units.

“While April was certainly a month on pause, we are already seeing signs of increased activity in May,” said Breau.

Active residential listings numbered 859 units at the end of April, a decline of nearly 37 per cent from the end of April 2019.

Months of inventory — the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity — numbered at 6.7 at the end of April, below the long-term average of average of 12 months for this time of year.

The Saint John Real Estate Board covers the southern part of New Brunswick and includes the counties of Saint John, Kings, Charlotte and portions of Queens County.