Is boring good? I’d like to think so because this is definitely the trend for real estate here in Waterloo Region, and the June market has been no different. What really stands out is how flat prices have been for the past year. There’s been absolutely no spring market bump in prices in 2025.
Looking back at June 2023, we saw detached over 100k higher than January and February, which is somewhat typical for the busiest time of the year. By the next month, July 2023, prices immediately retreated to the low nines/mid eights where they’ve remained ever since.
The other segments have seen similar activity over the past couple of years with the only big moves happening in apt style condos. Even then, prices in that sector are down roughly 10% over 24 months in the face of very high inventories. Towns and semis have traded in a fairly narrow band in comparison.
More recently, compared to May 2025, our June prices have remained almost entirely flat, down at most, one percent. Relative to June 2024, detached and semis were unchanged, with townhouses and apt condos down 6% on the year.
While prices have remained stable for months on end, what has changed significantly is sales volumes and inventory levels. Volumes are at multi-year lows and they have been for at least a half year now. While apt condos were flat, semi sales were 57% of the 10 year average. Detached and towns were also slow, coming in at 82% and 73%.
At the same time we’ve seen a sharp uptick in listings over and above the slump in sales. The only segment remaining in seller status is detached and it is barely so at 2.8 months. Semis and townhomes are both neutral, with apt condos well into buyer territory.
With the typically quiet summer market underway, it’s fairly safe to say we’ll see continued slowness. I expect we’ll see prices moving sideways with some deals as well for savvy buyers. Sellers need to temper their expectations especially if their property is suboptimal. Conversely homes that are in great shape are still seeing bidding wars if they are aggressively priced.
