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The median monthly sales price for a home in the Windsor area reached a record high of $575,069 in December as the local housing market remains remarkably buoyant despite the COVID-19 pandemic approaching 24 months.
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The price represents a 25.7 percent increase over the median price ($457,381) for December 2020.
“Clearly, there is still a lot of demand for housing,” said Josh Shepley, a real estate agent with ReMax Preferred.
“We have historically low interest rates, a lower supply and people putting stress on their homes due to the pandemic. It’s a perfect storm of different factors.”
The final month of 2021 saw 459 homes sold, an increase of nearly 11 percent compared to December 2020, and capped off a strong year of sales locally. 7,774 homes were sold in 2021, an increase of just over 16 percent.
There were 10,378 homes listed in 2021, which is an increase of almost 20 percent compared to the previous year.
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“The supply side of the business is better here than many cities in the rest of Ontario,” Royal LePage broker Frank Binder said.
“I want to temper the enthusiasm for a monthly price of $575,000. I prefer to see the big picture of the average price for the year ($552,177).
“It only increased about $1,700 over the past month and has increased more this year. That indicates a more balanced market between supply and demand.
“We carried 293 house listings from December to January.”
The median sales price for the year increased by $10,000 in the last six months.
Binder added that he also feels prices have remained buoyant as buyers move to try to beat anticipated interest rate hikes in 2022.
“Demand is still huge,” Binder said. “A list that we have 40 to 60 views as of (Monday) and we’ll probably get 8 to 20 offers.”
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However, Binder said he doesn’t expect prices to rise 20 to 25 percent, as they have in each of the past two years.
“I think prices will slow down in 2022 and maybe we’ll see a 10 or 11 percent increase,” Binder said.
Shepley said interest remains strong from buyers outside of Essex County, with the Greater Toronto Area being the main source of that interest.
He added that the strength of the market is supported by strong demand for rental properties and investors willing to fix and rent properties.
“I expect demand to remain strong as millennials enter their peak home buying phase, immigration picks up again, and seniors choose to stay in their homes longer,” Shepley said.
“You’re also going to see housing supply increase with all the condo and townhome projects underway or in the planning stages. Condominiums will increasingly become the initial home for first time buyers like in GTA, especially with the province legislating more densification in cities than we have seen in the last 30 to 40 years.”
Binder said the impact of so many condos and multi-unit buildings being built in the region, including in the county, will have a stabilizing impact on prices.
He said it’s still possible to get into a condo in the high $300,000 to low $400,000.
“That will help provide places for retirees to go and free up more homes,” Binder said. “The demand is there.
“You don’t see these $5 million buildings go up unless they’re pre-sold or leased.”
Reference-windsorstar.com