London Ontario Real Estate Market Update - September 2015

Not only did 2015 see a best June ever for real estate sales in the jurisdiction of the London and St Thomas Association of REALTORS®, now it’s seen the best September ever! A total of 840 homes sold in September 2015, up 23.2% overall from September 2014. "Year-to-Date we’ve clocked 7,513 transactions," says Carl Vandergoot, LSTAR President. "That's an increase of 10.8%."

Listings were down 2.7% for detached homes, but up 9.4% for condos last month. Active listings end of period – inventory – were down 9.5% for detached homes and up 4.6% for condos. "This September 150 condos were sold. Given that the five year average for September condo sales is 137, last month's figures are pretty much in line with what we expected," says Vandergoot. "It's the market for detached homes that seems to be tightening. If I were thinking of selling a detached home, now is when I'd put it on the market."

September was also the best September for St. Thomas since LSTAR started breaking out that City's sales statistics in 2006. 77 homes sold in St. Thomas in September 2015. The average price of a home in that City Year-to-Date stands at $219,292, up 9.7%.

The best-selling house style in LSTAR's jurisdiction for September 2015 was the two-storey, then the bungalow, followed by ranches, then townhouse condominiums, then high rise apartment condos. The average price for a detached home Year-to-Date stood at $282,241, up 4.3%, while the average price for a condo over the same period stood at $191,197, up 4.6%. Year-to-Date the average price of all homes sold through LSTAR's MLS® stood at $264,791, up 4.2%.

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