Niagara Association of REALTORS®

The number of homes sold through the MLS® System of the Niagara Association of REALTORS® (NAR) totaled 621 units in March 2024. This decreased by 1% (six sales) from March 2023.

Home sales were 21.8% below the five-year average and 18.2% below the 10-year average for the month of March.

On a year-to-date basis, home sales totaled 1,579 units over the first three months of the year. This was a gain of 8.9% from the same period in 2023.

“Sales activity posted tepid results in March, although with the busy spring market not typically picking up until after the Easter long weekend it’s possible that we won’t begin seeing a stronger recovery until April’s numbers come in,” said Nathan Morrissette, President of the Niagara Association of REALTORS® (NAR). “Sellers have been anxious to get their listings online in advance of the busiest time of year in our local market, which is lifting overall inventories to above-average levels. Once buyers decide to resume their homebuying journeys they will find a market that is well-supplied with more ample choice and comparatively modest pricing.”

The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) tracks price trends far more accurately than is possible using average or median price measures. The overall MLS® HPI composite benchmark price was $633,400 in March 2024, down modestly by 1% compared to March 2023.

The benchmark price for single-family homes was $647,800, essentially unchanged, down just 0.8% on a year-over-year basis in March. By comparison, the benchmark price for townhouse/row units was $609,600, unchanged compared to a year earlier, while the benchmark apartment price was $421,800, falling by 4.1% from year-ago levels.

The average price of homes sold in March 2024 was $708,571, up modestly by 1.6% from March 2023.

The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $678,473, essentially unchanged, up just 0.8% from the first three months of 2023.

The dollar value of all home sales in March 2024 was $440 million, a slight gain of 0.7% from the same month in 2023.

The number of new listings was up by 13.2% from March 2023. There were 1,298 new residential listings in March 2024.

New listings were 0.6% below the five-year average and 10.7% above the 10-year average for the month of March.

Active residential listings numbered 2,290 units on the market at the end of March, an advance of 32.1% from the end of March 2023. Active listings haven’t been this high in the month of March in a decade.

Active listings were 58.1% above the five-year average and 49.4% above the 10-year average for the month of March.

Months of inventory numbered 3.7 at the end of March 2024, up from the 2.8 months recorded at the end of March 2023 and above the long-run average of 2.2 months for this time of year. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.