'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.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Alice Munro, Nobel literature winner revered as short story master, dead at 92
Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world's most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history's most honoured short story writers, has died at age 92.
Latest updates on air quality alerts, and when the smoke may reach Ontario and Quebec
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Are these Canada's best restaurants? Annual top 100 list revealed
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Attack on prison van in France kills 2 officers, inmate escapes
Armed assailants killed two French prison officers and seriously wounded three others in an attack on a convoy in Normandy on Tuesday and an inmate escaped, officials said.
Maximum payout for LifeLabs class-action drops from $150 estimate to $7.86
Canadian LifeLabs customers who filed an application for a class-action settlement began receiving their payments this week, though at a much lower amount than initially expected.
Steal a car, lose your driver's licence for 10 years under new Ontario proposal
Repeat car thieves may face lengthy licence bans under proposed changes to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
$1.6B parts plant for Honda electric vehicle batteries coming to Niagara Region
A Japanese company has announced it will build an approximately $1.6-billion plant in Ontario's Niagara Region that will make a key electric vehicle battery component as part of Honda's supply chain in the province.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Manitoba premier to visit areas impacted by wildfire
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew will get a close-up look at the devastation from a large wildfire burning in northern Manitoba Tuesday.