Another Monthly Home Sales Record Set In June

The housing market in Greater Saint John remains red-hot and officials say there is no sign of it cooling off.

New figures show a record-breaking 340 homes were sold in the region during the month of June.

That was not only a sales record for the month but was also the highest level for any month in history.

Corey Breau, president of the Saint John Real Estate Board, said eight of the highest monthly sales totals have been recorded in the last 12 months.

“The number of market-activity records that have been shattered in our region over the past year is nothing short of extraordinary,” said Breau.

“We’re seeing sales continue to increase, we’re seeing inventory continue to decrease, and we’re seeing prices increase.”

While new residential listings outpaced sales last month, overall inventory continued to fall and now sits just above the lowest level on record.

Active residential listings numbered 665 units at the end of June, about 51 per cent below the five-year average and nearly 63 per cent below the 10-year average for the month.

“I think you could see listings that didn’t sell, maybe the contract expired, listings could have been cancelled, so there are other reasons for homes to come off the market besides sales,” said Breau.

Months of inventory — the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity — numbered two at the end of June, which Breau agreed was the lowest he has ever seen.

The tight market conditions helped to push the average home sale price in June to a record $271,160, up 35 per cent year-over-year. The year-to-date average price climbed to $250,603.

The dollar value of all home sales was $92.2 million, setting a new record for the month of June and an all-time record for any month in history.

“We are not seeing any signs of it levelling off or going down any time soon,” Breau said of the current housing market.

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.