Home sales off to a strong start in 2019

London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR) announced 525 homes* were sold in January, up 17.4% over January 2018. The number of home resales was higher than the 10-year average, with the second highest number of units sold in January since 2010.

"We're starting to observe signs of movement toward more balance in the marketplace, based on the sales-to-new listings ratio," said Earl Taylor, 2019 LSTAR President. "In January, the ratio was 60.9% across LSTAR’S jurisdiction. The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) says a ratio between 40% and 60% is generally consistent with a balanced market."

Bucking the trend was St. Thomas, who saw a sales-to-new listing ratio of 80.3% in January, which CREA says represents conditions in the marketplace that favour sellers. St. Thomas also achieved a new high in the last 10 years with its average home sales price.

Average home sales price made steady gains in the five major areas of LSTAR's region. In London, the average sales price was $387,859 up 11.2% from last January, while it was $398,150 in Strathroy, an increase of 41.4% from January 2018.