Southern New Brunswick recorded an increase in home sales during the month of June.

That is according to the latest numbers from the Saint John Real Estate Board.

Officials said a total of 221 homes switched hands throughout the month.

While that was well below average, it was higher than what we saw in May.

It was a similar story for new listings, which were up month over month but still below average.

There were 340 new residential listings in June, compared to 280 the month before.

“The number of newly listed properties declined 18 per cent month over month, falling well below the historical norm for this time of year,” board president Kevin Donovan said in a news release.

With sales trending behind the pace of new listings, overall inventory increased for the fifth straight month.

Active residential listings numbered 553 units at the end of June. It was the first time inventory levels have been above 500 since last fall.

“However, it’s important to note that the overall inventory remains considerably lower than what is typically expected in the month of June,” said Donovan.

The board president noted that active listings have not been this low in the month of June in more than two decades.

Months of inventory — the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity — numbered 2.5 at the end of June, down from the long-run average of 7.1 months for this time of year.

Meanwhile, the benchmark price for a single-family home in June jumped to $292,800, up from around $282,000 in May.

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.