'I don’t think we’ve reached bottom': London and area home prices continue to fall

Home buyers are holding out until prices hit bottom. That word Thursday coming from a past president of the London St. Thomas Association of Realtors.

“We do have a few homes on the market now, that’s for sure,” said Earl Taylor, as the St. Thomas based real estate agent pointed to wall full of listings at his office. “Two years ago, a year ago, everything that came up on the market, seven days later it was sold.”

He was commenting on statistics released Wednesday by the association. According to LSTAR, home prices fell for the seventh straight month in September to an average $635,256 from $648,036 in August.

Taylor said as the housing market continues to soften, sellers find themselves in the position of having to drop prices.

“We’re seeing home sellers say ‘we can’t change the condition of our home, we can’t change the location of our home, we can only change the price of our home,’” explained Taylor.

According to LSTAR, 497 homes changed hands in September, down 42 per cent from one year earlier, when 864 homes were sold. Taylor said the drop in sales can be attributed in part to a series of interest rate hikes by the Bank of Canada this year.

“With the hike in the interest rates it has reduced people’s ability to buy at the price they wanted to,” he said.

Taylor also points out that while home prices are falling, they remain significantly higher than only a few years ago.

“I wish I had a crystal ball, but I do not think we’ve reached the bottom. But don’t forget, the prices of homes are twice what they were five years ago. Sellers are still in a good position.”