If you’re a homeowner in St. John’s or planning to become one, I’m going to be sharing an update on the latest real estate market trends from April 2023.
I will be focusing my data on St. John’s Metro. This includes St. John’s, CBS, Mount Pearl, Paradise and Eastern Extension Areas. I prepared these Statistics from data available on May 1st, from the NLAR’s MLS System. And as always, I am not an economist but I will provide my insights as a realtor in this update.
High Level Market Overview
Month's of Supply Available
From a high level perspective, in April there were 7 months of supply available in St. John’s Metro, and believe it or not, is technically a buyers market, even though it feels like we are in a seller’s market here in Newfoundland because historically we are used to seeing much higher levels of inventory.
Months of supply, also known as the inventory rate, tells you how many months it would take for all of the homes currently listed to sell, if no new homes were listed, given the average sales volume. Anything above 6 is considered a buyers market, between 4-6 is a balanced market and under 4 is a sellers market.
How is that number trending vs. last month? It’s up from 6 months and now as we are getting into the spring market when more properties tend to get listed we may see this trend continue. But I wouldn’t say that we are headed into a strong buyers market just yet. There are areas of St. John’s Metro where the supply is very low so it really depends on where you are looking.
Active Listings
There were 1309 active listings available in April. However, if you look at the data year over year active listings are down. And, we have only half of the number of active listings that were available just 5 years ago.
So for all you sellers out there, there is not a lot of competition on the market. And buyers, if you see something you like, know that there are probably a lot of people looking at that same listing. It is more important than ever to work with someone to help you write compelling offers.
New Listings
There were 380 new residential listings in April. That is trending up month over month but we are still down compared to the number of new listings that we saw last year.
We have also had really horrible weather so far this spring. It’s May and there are still snowbanks in parts of St. John’s. Some sellers may be waiting for the weather to warm up to do some exterior updates and simply showcase their home in its best possible condition. Time will tell as we move along and the weather improves. But it is important to note that buyers have not been given a lot of new options so far in 2023.
Single Family homes
Median Sale Price
The median home price in St. John’s Metro for single family homes in April 2023 was $312,500.
The reason I used the median price and not the average is because sometimes the average home price can be skewed by a couple of large sales. The median price is if you took all the homes that sold and lined them up in a row and took the price right in the middle.
The median sale price is down from both last month and last year, but it is still the highest April on record, next to 2022. So things do seem to be cooling off a bit compared to last year when the market was super hot.
Days on Market
Now you might be wondering how long it’s taking properties to sell? On average in April a Single Family Homes in St. John’s Metro was taking 61 days to sell.
That is trending up from last month, and way up from last year. Just for comparison, the lowest that we saw last year where the market felt like it was moving very quickly was 39 days on market. However, if you are a buyer, I still wouldn’t wait too long to put an offer in on a home. A nice home, in a desirable neighborhood, that is priced right is selling quickly.
List to Sale Price Ratio
The average list to sale price ratio was 98.8% in April. That simply means that properties were selling for 98.8% of list price. So just under asking. That’s up from last month, but down from last year.
Now when you’re looking at this stat, you’ve got to keep in mind that it has a lot to do with the strategy a seller uses when they’re listing their property. This indicates that most seller’s are listing their homes very close to market price, not underpricing their house to entice bidding wars or overpricing to leave room to come down in negotiations.
Interest Rate Update
If you’re thinking about buying real estate in the near future, the mortgage rate at the end of April for a 5 year fixed is 4.49%. Whether you’re getting financing through a bank or an alternative lender I encourage you to meet with them early in the home buying process in order to secure the best rates possible.
(Interest Rates provided by Darryl Lane at East Coast Mortgage Brokers)
My Market Trends Insights
- When you look at April market statistics, so far in 2023 there has not been a lot of new listings and buyers have not been given many new options. If you are thinking about selling, now may be a good time to do so as you would not have a lot of competition.
- One really important thing to keep in mind is that these are the statistics for all of St. John’s Metro. What’s happening in the east end can be completely different than what’s happening in CBS, there are different micro markets everywhere. Even though the overall inventory rate has increased, there are pockets within St. John’s where it is still a seller’s market.
- And lastly, if you are looking to upgrade to a more desirable home and buy a new bigger property, pricing is down from March to April, so now could be a good opportunity to make that move.
So how does this all impact you?
The bottom line is that whether you’re buying, selling or investing, your situation is unique and a general market update should be taken with a grain of salt.
If you want a market analysis for your home or you’re thinking of buying and want to know where hidden opportunities may lie, you can request a free no-obligation market analysis of your home or book a call with me to have a conversation about your options.
