Real Estate Blog | Page #4

In July 2023, 640 homes were sold via the MLS® System of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR), 19.6% more than in the seventh month of last year. The local housing supply increased from 2.2 months of inventory in June to 2.9 months in July. During the same period, 1,333 new listings came on the market, up by 8.2% over 2022. “In July 2023, LSTAR’s overall sales-to-new-listings ratio sat at 48%, indicating a fairly balanced market,” said 2023 LSTAR President Adam Miller.

“The higher borrowing costs triggered by Bank of Canada’s latest hike in its benchmark interest rate barely put a dent in July’s home sales and prices,” Miller noted. “This speaks not only to the local market’s appeal and resilience, but also to the huge demand for…

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The local housing market continued its steady streak in June, with 745 homes exchanging hands via the MLS® System of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR). Housing supply increased from 1.7 months of inventory in May to 2.2 months of inventory in June, showing signs of market stabilization. 

“The sales activity in June is consistent with the activity from the last several months,” said 2023 LSTAR President Adam Miller. “This happened despite another interest rate hike last month. Halfway through the year, the sales demonstrate the strong demand for homes across the region, which is very encouraging.” 

The table below highlights home sales, average home prices and benchmark prices in LSTAR’s jurisdiction over the past four…

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In May 2023, 1,397 new listings came on the local market and 846 homes exchanged hands via the MLS® System of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR). While the number of new listings is 23.9% lower than in May 2022, the number of sales is 1.3% higher than a year ago.

LSTAR's overall sales-to-new listings ratio for the entire area stood at 60.6% last month. Moreover, the inventory continued to decline, dwindling from 1.8 months in April to a mere 1.7 months in May.

"The month-over-month increases in home sales and prices continued in May in LSTAR's jurisdiction, thus indicating a further rebound of the local real estate market," said 2023 LSTAR President Adam Miller. "Throughout the last three months of 2023, an upward trajectory…

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In April 2023, 964 new properties came on the market and 723 homes exchanged hands via the MLS® System of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR). 

“Since the beginning of 2023 we’ve been noticing steady month-over-month increases in the number of home sales and prices, which indicate that the property demand and the housing supply issue are still there. Both of these are also demonstrated by the sales-to-new-listings ratio, which sky-rocketed in April, and by the dwindling housing inventory," said 2023 LSTAR President Adam Miller.

The overall sales-to-new listings ratio for the entire London-St. Thomas area climbed from 63.5% in March to 75% in April, while the inventory plunged from 2 months in March to only 1.8 in April.

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In March 2023, only 1,079 new residential listings were posted on the MLS® System of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR). This makes last month the March with the third lowest number of new listings in the last decade.

The number of residential transactions for the month stood at 685, thus marking the lowest number of home sales seen by LSTAR in March since 2014. The overall sales-to-new listings ratio for the entire jurisdiction of LSTAR jumped to 63.5%, and the inventory fell from 3 months in February to only 2 in March. 

"The market downturn caused by the rising borrowing costs has created a window of opportunity for buyers to enter the market at a potentially lower price point, but the lack of inventory remains a concern.…

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In February 2023, the MLS® System of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR) recorded only 436 residential transactions, thus marking the lowest number of February home sales seen by LSTAR since 1995.

Despite the sluggish sales, 761 new listings entered the market during the same time frame, bringing the number of active listings to 1,320 by month-end. The overall sales-to-new listings ratio for the entire jurisdiction of LSTAR was 57.3%.

Compared to February 2022, both the overall average home price and the composite MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) Benchmark Price were significantly lower, down 24.2% and 25.1%, respectively. Despite this, both metrics saw a modest month-over-month growth. LSTAR's overall average home price was…

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In January 2023, only 344 residential transactions were recorded via the MLS® System of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR). This makes last month the January with the lowest number of home sales seen by LSTAR since 2009.

During the same period, 823 new listings came on the market, thus bringing the number of active listings at month’s end to 1,261. The overall sales-to-new listings ratio for the entire jurisdiction of LSTAR sat at 41.8%.

“At a first glance, all these figures seem to indicate a cooling market, with a healthier housing supply. With 3.7 months of inventory, decreasing house prices, and a sales-to-new-listings ratio under 50%, home buyers could appear as favoured. However, when taking into consideration the…

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299 residential properties exchanged hands last month in the jurisdiction of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR), bringing the total number of homes sold through the Association’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) System in 2022 to 7,639.

"The last month of 2022 was the December with the lowest number of home sales recorded by LSTAR in the last decade. And, overall, 2022 saw the second lowest number of home sales since 2012," said Randy Pawlowski, 2022 LSTAR President. "No one could have predicted that at the beginning of the year when the local housing market peaked, fueled by the lingering pandemic and its socio-economic effects. Once the economy started to get back on track and the Bank of Canada began increasing its benchmark…

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451 residential properties exchanged hands last month through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) System of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR), 44% less than in November 2021. LSTAR Members' home sales included 336 single family homes, 64 condo townhouses, and 36 apartments – all significantly down from a year ago.

“In the last two years, the local housing market’s frenzy was artificially fueled by the socio-economic climate of the pandemic. Now, that the socio-economic conditions are completely different, the local housing market is in correction mode,” said Randy Pawlowski, 2022 LSTAR President. “The market is especially affected  by the Bank of Canada’s interest rate hikes, which intensify buyer reluctance and weaken…

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In October 2022, the MLS® System of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR) saw 975 new listings and 504 home sales. While October’s new listings were on par with the average value recorded for the month of October throughout the last decade, the monthly home sales were at their lowest point in the last ten years.

“This year’s successive increases in interest rates put a big dent in the local home sales activity and made the year-over-year price values plunge. However, it’s not all bad news: LSTAR’s sales-to-new listings ratio increased from 42.4% in September to 51.7% in October, which indicates a more balanced market. Moreover, the overall average home price in the London-St. Thomas region was a bit higher in October than during…

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