March home sales on par with 10-year average, as inventory remains low

The London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR) announced 769 homes* were sold in March, down 37.9% over March 2017, which set a record for best March results since LSTAR began tracking sales data in 1978.

"The marketplace is still being challenged with low levels of housing inventory, which continues to impact sales across the region," said Jeff Nethercott, 2018 LSTAR President. "Looking at inventory, there were 1,192 Active Listings, down 20.4% from this time last year and down 55.3% from March 2016. Similar to February, the March inventory is the lowest level for the month in the last 10 years."

Average home sales price across London and St. Thomas continues to rise, despite the low inventory. The average March sales price in the region was $364,112 up 8.6% over March 2017. Grand Bend is experiencing the same numbers of low inventory and higher prices, perhaps not over 8% but they are higher so far this spring.

"Another interesting statistic that paints a picture of the marketplace is the sales-to-new listings ratio," Nethercott said. "According to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), a ratio between 40% and 60% is generally consistent with a balanced housing market. In March, London and area had a sales-to-new listings ratio of 75.1%, which CREA says represents conditions in the marketplace that favour sellers. It reinforces the trends LSTAR Members have been experiencing, with low supply and high demand, and also managing multiple offer situations and out-of-town interest in our region."