The average sale price for homes in Peterborough city and county soared to an all-time record of $448,993 in September.

But sales remain behind last year's levels as the supply of available homes remains low.

There were 193 residential units sold in September, down 18.6 per cent from September 2017, the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Association of Realtors reported Tuesday.

On a year-to-date basis, home sales totalled 2,025 units over the first nine months of the year, down a similar 17.9 per cent from the same period in 2017.

"Sales activity was still running at quieter than average levels in September," association president Kristi Doyle stated.

"That said, supply is much further below average, so the market is still historically tight. That is why prices continue to push higher."

The record average price of $448,993 in September was up 23.4 per cent from September 2017.

The year-to-date average price now sits at $427,703, up 8 per cent from the first nine months of 2017.

There were 332 new residential listings in September, seven more than were added a year ago, but still one of the lowest levels in the last 15 years, the association reported.

Active residential listings totalled 659 units at the end of September, up 5.6 per cent from the end of September 2017. The long-term average for this time of the year is double that, according to the association.

Residential months of inventory numbered 3.4 at the end of September 2018, up from the 2.6 months recorded at the end of September 2017 but still below the long-run average of 7.2 months for this time of year. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.

Sales of all property types numbered 217 units in September, a decrease of 12.5 per cent from September 2017.

Meanwhile, a survey released Sept. 26 by the real estate website Zoocasa found that despite the price surge in Peterborough, Peterborough is still considered one of Ontario's affordable cities to buy a home in, but just barely.

The Zoocasa study looked at August's average home prices for 28 Ontario cities and compared prices to the actual median household income from Statistics Canada for each city.

By that measure, Peterborough is considered affordable because the $421,641 average price in August would require a household income of $57,515 for a new homebuyer to carry while Peterborough's actual median household income is $58,127, a $612 gap.

Nine communities, all in the GTA, were found to have home prices where the income required to afford was thousands of dollars more than the actual median household income for the household: Richmond Hill, Toronto, Vaughan, Markham, Oakville, Burlington, Mississauga, Brampton and Newmarket.

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Meanwhile there were 36 new home starts in the Peterborough census metropolitan area in September, up 6 per cent from a year ago, with 13 of them single detached homes and 23 multiunit homes, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported Tuesday.

Total home starts for the year ending in September for the Peterborough census metropolitan area was 476.