LONDON, ON -- The London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS (LSTAR) says despite the fact that the total number of residential transactions remained well below the 10-year average, in May, they saw notable month-over-month increases.
The President of 2020 LSTAR, Blair Campbell says they saw an increase of “42.4% in home sales and 31.8% in listings, which we find very encouraging,” he adds “when looking at the year-over-year percentage changes, one can notice that the decrease in home sales is directly proportional to the one in listings, which means that the ratio between supply and demand is almost unchanged”.
Campbell emphasized that despite the impacts being felt from the COVID19 pandemic, the local real estate market succeeded in staying in Sellers’ territory.
LSTAR says the overall average home price saw an increase of 7.4% over a year ago, rising to $445,732 in May. This average sales price includes all housing types - from single detached homes to high-rise apartment condominiums. All the five major areas of LSTAR’s region witnessed increases in their average home sales price.
The average home prices for the month of May in London was $450,114 an increase of 14.7 per cent compared to May 2019.
In St. Thomas, homes average at $370,182 in May, that's an increase of 1.7 per cent from same time last year.
“Looking at London’s three main geographic areas, London South saw the highest number of home sales last month, while London East saw the biggest price gain compared to May 2019,” Campbell said.
LSTAR says according to a report by the Canadian Real Estate Association, last month, in London, the median number of days that a home was on the market was 14 - up from 9 days in May 2019.
“The real estate sector is one of the most important drivers of the Canadian economy. That is why LSTAR is making every effort to provide its Members with the knowledge and tools they need to continue doing their job in these extraordinary circumstances,” said Campbell.
