Home sales steady, prices fall
June prices drop 15% from May
Twenty-six homes sold in Trent Hills in June with a median price of $547,500.
Sales were up slightly from 24 in May and but were up dramatically from 14 in the same month last year.
Last month, 24 detached homes sold with a median price of $531,500 and two townhouses sold with a median of $593,900. In May, the median price was $628,500, while it was $532,500 in June 2025.
There were 81 new listings in June and 152 active listings. Homes that sold had been on the market an average of 42 days, up from 32 days in May. In comparison, in June 2025 homes that sold has been listed an average of 51 days.
So far this year, 64 homes have sold with a median price of $610,500, an average of 98 per cent of their listed price. In the first six months of 2025, 114 homes sold with a median of $560,500, so sales are down 44 per cent but prices are up 9 per cent.
In all of Northumberland county, 152 homes sold in June with a median of $641,250. For the first half of the year, 618 homes sold with a median of $649,500. In the same period last year, 688 homes sold with a median price of $670,000. So this year sales are down 10 per cent and prices are down 3 per cent.
In its news release providing the latest sales numbers, the Central Lake Association of Realtors said that market conditions vary across the region.
The news release also touched on the politically sensitive topic of development charges that municipalities levy on each new home that is built. The federal and provincial governments have been urging municipalities to cut those fees so that developers can lower home prices.
On June 1, the governments opened up applications for municipalities that cut their development fees to apply for money from an $8.8 billion program.
Municipalities had until June 19 to apply for the funding. They were required to cut fees by 30 to 50 per cent for at least three years.
Trent Hills currently charges builders $23,021 for each detached, or semi-detached unit. The largest part of the fee is the $17,973 that goes toward parks and recreation services.
Trent Hills decided not to apply to join the program, said Chief Administrative Officer Karen Frigault.
“After reviewing the program, the municipality chose not to submit an application,” she said in an email. “Participation would have required the municipality to commit to a significant reduction in residential development charges while competing for a limited pool of infrastructure funding. Staff were not satisfied that participation would provide a clear financial benefit to Trent Hills residents or adequately offset the reduction in development charge revenue.
“Development charges are an important funding source for growth-related infrastructure. We were not prepared to reduce that revenue source without confidence that doing so would be in the best financial interests of our community and our taxpayers.”
During a recent council meeting, Mayor Bob Crate said he had met with developers who indicated that the current development charges here are lower than they face elsewhere and are not a barrier to home construction.
In its release, the realtors’ association spoke in favour of cuts.
“We commend the municipalities across our region that have taken proactive steps to apply for funding from the new joint provincial and federal program to help offset development charges and support the creation of new housing,” said association CEO Wendy Giroux. “Reducing barriers to new housing is an important step toward improving affordability and increasing housing supply.”
Bonnie Clark, warden of Peterborough County and chair of the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus, also supported the program.
“This investment, coupled with the flexibility provided to municipalities, will help communities deliver the housing and infrastructure needed to support growth,” she said. “We look forward to working with our federal and provincial partners to ensure eastern Ontario has the resources needed to build more homes and support sustainable growth.”
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