March home sales across southern New Brunswick were below what we typically see.

Figures from the Saint John Real Estate Board show 151 homes changed hands last month.

That was 19 per cent below the five-year average and four per cent below the 10-year average.

“March sales activity was below long-term averages partially due to the lack of available listings,” Kevin Donovan, president of the board, said in a release.

“Even though we saw an increase in the number of newly listed homes during the month, it was not sufficient to stop the seven-month slide in overall inventory.”

There were 211 new residential listings in March, the lowest number for the month in more than 35 years.

While that was up from the February figures, it was nearly 33 per cent below the 10-year average for the month.

Active residential listings numbered 395 units at the end of March, which was 67 per cent below the long-term average.

Months of inventory — the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity — numbered 2.6, down from the long-run average of 8.7 months for this time of year.

Meanwhile, the benchmark price for a single-family home ticked up to $269,500, an increase that Donovan is not surprised to see.

“It is simple supply and demand. Fewer homes and an increasing number of people that are looking to buy them is starting to once again put pressure on prices,” said Donovan.

“With the spring market almost in full swing, it is reasonable to expect that market balance in our region will likely continue to weigh heavily in favour of sellers.”

Royal LePage, which released its annual House Price Survey on Thursday, is now forecasting the aggregate price of a home in Canada will rise 4.5 per cent year-over-year in the fourth quarter.

That, the company said, is largely due to the vigorous return of buyer demand at the start of the year, coupled with ultra-low housing supply conditions.

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.