Home Sales Remain Strong in September.
London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR) announced 776 homes* were sold in September, down 6.1% over the same month last year. The number of home resales are above the 10-year average, despite low inventory in the marketplace. "All year we’ve been managing the challenges of low supply and it continues to impact home resales," said Jeff Nethercott, 2018 LSTAR President. "What we did experience was a large increase in the average price for resale activity. In September, the average sales price was $386,520, up 21.0% compared to a year ago, and up 57.9%, compared to just five years ago."
All major London centres saw jumps in their average sales price in September. Making the biggest gain was London North, where the average sales price was $498,138, up 28.1% from 2017 and up 70.5% compared to five years ago. In London South (which also includes data from the west side of the city) had an average sales price of $385,635, up 18.0% from 2017 and up 48.8% compared to five years ago. London East saw an average sales price of $302,452, up 10% from last September and up 51.4% compared to five years ago. It’s only the second time in the last 10 years that London East had an average sales price above $300,000.
"While the average price for home resales may be on the rise, inventory (what is called active listings) continues to decline," Nethercott said. "Last month, there were 1,640 active listings in LSTAR’s jurisdiction, marking the lowest level of September inventory in the past 10 years. The sales-to-new listings ratio was 64.5%, which the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) says represents conditions in the marketplace that favour sellers (a ratio between 40% and 60% is generally consistent with a balanced market). Breaking it down further by geography, London East had a sales-to-new listings ratio of 76.8%."
