Average home price in P.E.I. continues downward trend, data shows

The average price of a home in Prince Edward Island has dropped by 8.8 per cent over the past two years, according to data released Tuesday by the Canadian Real Estate Association.

CREA's year-over-year data for March is based on P.E.I. Real Estate Association's listings.

The trend has been steadily downward for several years, with the average residential home price on the Island falling 5.7 per cent last month compared to March 2023, and by 8.8 per cent compared to a year earlier.

As of last month, the average residential price now sits at $376,429, which includes both single-family and condominium housing types.

CREA considers P.E.I.'s market to be "well-balanced," favouring neither buyers nor sellers.

Last month's homes sold spent 55 days on the market, according to the CREA report's median sales times — slightly longer than a year earlier, but nearly double the 28 median days for homes sold in March 2021.

Benchmark price up more than $10K

Last month, the real estate association's benchmark price, however, increased by three per cent to $355,100, compared to $344,800 in March of last year.

From 2005 to 2020, the benchmark price for homes on P.E.I. rose moderately. It took those 15 years for the benchmark price of a home to double, climbing from $115,800 to $230,300. But it took only another three years for prices to climb to triple their 2005 value.

Sales were up 10 per cent from last year, with 143 homes sold last month, compared to 130 units sold the previous March. Of those, 115 homes sold last month were single-family residences, and just 6 were condominiums, according to the data.

New listings were also up almost 30 per cent over the year prior, with 288 added in March versus 222 over the same time period a year ago.

Months of inventory, often used as a measure of availability of homes to buy, is also up slightly. Last month there was 6.1 months of inventory, as compared to 5.9 months in March 2023.

Those averages are still well above 2022 and 2021, which both hovered around two months of inventory.