The Real Estate Market in Frontenac County, Stone Mills and Lennox and Addington.

Dawn Morden, Sales Representative, eXp Realty Brokerage | Apr 06, 2022

Fewer properties, both homes and land, sold during the first quarter this year than at the same time in 2021. In all five townships, 77 properties were sold, a significant decrease from the same time last year when 224 sold. But inventory has been low this year. There were only 44 homes for sale in our entire region as of March 31, not many for such a large geographic area.

The number of days on the market for properties that sold during this quarter increased in most townships compared to this time in 2021. But not many homes were new on the market during the first part of this year. Buyers chose mostly from homes that came onto the market last year and were still available, but by the end of March most of those properties had been sold. As of March 31, fewer than 25% of the homes for sale have been on the market for more than one month.

The percent of the asking price that properties sold for this quarter has decreased in most townships compared to the same time in 2021, but it remained above the asking price in most townships.

Vacant land sold for just under the asking price in Frontenac County, and over the asking price in Stone Mills and Addington Highlands.

There were still a lot of buyers wanting to buy real estate in our area, and they were willing to pay what they had to, to get it.

In most townships the average sales price is up this quarter compared to the same time last year. Property sold above the asking price more often than not, and that continued to push prices upwards.

But there have been change from our last report. North Frontenac was the most expensive township for buying a home at that time, and it is now the least expensive. However, it was the most expensive location to purchase vacant land. A waterfront property in North Frontenac sold there for 1.03 million dollars in this quarter, the only vacant land in all of the townships to sell for over a million dollars.

During the same time in 2021 there was also one piece of vacant land that sold for over a million dollars, it was in South Frontenac. Stone Mills took the lead with the highest average sales price for homes, at least partly because one one house sold there for 3.8 million dollars.

The only other home to sell for over a million dollars this quarter was in Addington Highlands. During this time in 2021, ten homes sold for over a million dollars in our townships.

Here are some market statistics from January 1 to March 31, 2022 (based on MLSTM system data owned by the Kingston and Area Real Estate Association).

Number of residential homes and vacant lots of land sold. Average sale price. Median number of days property was on the market. Average percent of the asking price that properties sold for.

South Frontenac

14 homes. $671,000. 6.5 days average time on market. 110.7% of asking price on average..

9 vacant lots. $223,000. 113 days. 97.8%.

Central Frontenac.

9 homes. $455,000. 103 days. 108.6%.

8 vacant lots. $166,000. 141 days. 95.1%.

North Frontenac.

6 homes. $388,000. 15 days. 100.9%.

4 vacant lots. $431,000. 29.5 days. 95.4%.

Stone Mills.

11 homes. $822,000. 7 days. 114%.

8 vacant lots. $234,000. 35 days. 104.5%.

Addington Highlands.

4 homes. $636,000. 22 days. 96.1%.

4 vacant lots. $273,000. 85 days. 91.6%.

The average sale price is an average of the sold prices of homes that were available on the market. But what about the value of homes in general? How has that changed? The Canadian Real Estate Association has a home price index that created a 'benchmark home' for each community. A 'benchmark home' isn't an actual, specific house. It's the most common features (eg. age, type of foundation and roof, number of bedrooms and bathrooms) of all homes in a specific region combined to create an average home for that region. Data is available for one and two storey homes. The following is composite value, an average of the two values.

These are benchmark home values for each township in December 2021 and March 2022, and the increase that occurred.

South Frontenac. $551,500 to $665,400 (+20.1%)

Central Frontenac $316,500 to $359,300 (+13.5%).

North Frontenac $552,400 to $633,500 (+14.7%).

Stone Mills $364,400 to $415,700 (+14.1%).

Addington Highlands $273,300 to $320,800 (+16.5%).

Changes in value to the 'benchmark home' can be used as a baseline to approximate the value of homes in general. If a home was purchased in December 2021, it's value today would reflect the increase in value to the 'benchmark home' in that community over the same time period. The value of the 'benchmark home', and of all homes has been climbing steadily, with a significant increase in the last three months.

How long will the market continue this way? Will we see changes to the market soon? Maybe, because interest rates have begun to rise and the number of sales has fallen. But maybe not because inventory has been low and most of what was available has been purchased.

Buyers are still buying, and competing to get what they want. As long as the demand for real estate in our area continues and supply remains relatively low, the trends we've been witnessing are likely to continue as well. And as we all know, this is really a great place to live!