Courtesy Greater Moncton Realtors

The number of homes sold in Greater Moncton through the MLS system in September dropped by almost 35 percent compared to the same month last year and were 19 percent below the five-year average.

Similar to markets across the province and Canada, Greater Moncton Realtors president Mike Power said 281 units were sold last month which was the lowest level since the start of 2022.

But Power said it was still the fourth highest total of any September on record.

“New listings continued returning to the market and have been helping to stabilize overall inventory but the total number of listed properties at the end of the month was still below the long run averages,” noted Power.

“Although the market balance is technically still in favour of sellers, it is very close to balanced which is encouraging considering the affordability issues we have seen over the past couple of years. Many buyers and sellers are still waiting to see how the most recent interest rate hike impacts affordability. It is not yet definitively clear, but at least at the moment, it appears that any anticipated softness in prices has been offset by the recent increases in mortgage rates,” he added.

The overall composite benchmark price of a home last month in Greater Moncton was $321,600 which was down slightly from August but still almost 20 percent higher year-over-year.