Sluggish home sales and low inventory continue for London, Ont. region

Adam Miller, President of London St. Thomas Association of Realtors, is seen in this undated photo. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

It’s slim pickings out there if you’re in the market to buy a home in the London, Ont. region.

According to the London St. Thomas Association of Realtors (LSTAR), just 1,079 homes were posted for sale on the Multiple Listings Service for this area last month. That marks the third lowest March inventory in a decade.

Home prices also continue to be down significantly from one year ago.

The average home price for LSTAR in March 2023 was $653,611, down 20.6 per cent from one year earlier.

LSTAR said home sales continue to be down as well.

“The number of residential transactions for the month stood at 685, thus marking the lowest number of home sales seen by LSTAR in March since 2014,” according to their latest monthly report.

LSTAR President Adam Miller said bidding wars continue in the local market, but not at levels previously seen.

“The big difference between the bidding wars is the end price,” said Miller. “So when we were seeing them a year and a half, two years ago, we were seeing some outrageous sort of bidding wars getting 100, 150 thousand dollars over asking price. We’re still seeing bidding wars that are five thousand, ten thousand dollars over asking price. So still lots of activity.”

Miller said he doesn’t expect to see any notable surge in the market until at least the summer.