London, St. Thomas sales hold steady amid depleting inventory

Average prices continue to rise, as well

London, St. Thomas sales hold steady amid depleting inventory

Fresh numbers from the London and St. Thomas Association of Realtors (LSTAR) revealed that home sales in the region remained steady last month, even as the number of active listings declined to the lowest levels seen in the market over the last decade.

Home sales in London, St. Thomas, and surrounding areas in February fell by almost 33% (with 536 homes sold) compared to the same month last year.

LSTAR emphasized, however, that February 2017 was no ordinary February for home sales in the region, as it is the current record-holder for the best February results ever since the inception of the association’s sales tracking project 40 years ago.

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Meanwhile, inventory continued to decrease compared to 2017, resulting in a major impact on home sales, LSTAR president Jeff Nethercott said.

“There were 1,103 active listings, down 26.4% from this time last year,” Jeff Nethercott told Global News. “This is the lowest level of inventory we’ve had in the region over the last 10 years.”

Despite the decline in the number of available homes, though, average sale prices in the region continued to rise, posting 10.8% year-over-year gains last month (up to $349,848).

Together, these developments have pushed the region towards being a sellers’ market, with Canadian Real Estate Association placing the market’s sales-to-new listings ratio at 69.5%.