London Ontario Real Estate Market Update - May 2015

The local housing market continued strong in May 2015, with total sales up 6.8% over the previous year. "In fact, May 2015 is the best May on record  since 2007," says Carl Vandergoot, President of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS®. He adds, "We can thank job growth, stable mortgage rates and  affordable home prices for what is turning out to be a very robust market in our area." 861 detached homes and 194 condos sold last month, when a total of 1,055 homes exchanged hands.

Listings were down 3.7% and inventory – active listings end of period – were also down 2.7%. "Our supply of listings is still good and we would still characterize our market as balanced," says Vandergoot. "But, if supply continues to tighten up, we might find ourselves moving into  a sellers market.  My advice to any potential sellers sitting on the fence would be to take advantage of the current situation and list."

The market in  London's Sister City of St. Thomas also had the best May since 2007, with  88 sales. The average price of a home in St. Thomas Year-to-Date stands at $218,916, up 9.5% from December 31, 2014.

The best-selling house style in LSTAR's jurisdiction for May 2015  was the two-storey, then the bungalow, followed by ranches, then townhouse condominiums, then high rise apartment condos. As of May 31, the average price for a detached home Year-to-Date  stood at $281,564, up 4.1%, while the average price for a condo over the same period stood at $189,832, up 3.8%.  Year-to-Date  the average price of all homes sold through LSTAR's MLS® stood at $263,785, up 3.8%.

The following chart, based on data taken from CREA's National MLS® Report for April 2015 (the latest information available), demonstrates how homes in LSTAR's jurisdiction continue to maintain their affordability compared to other major Ontario and Canadian centres.