1,049 homes were sold in March 2022 in the London-St. Thomas area via LSTAR's MLS® System. During the same time frame, 1,544 listings came on the local market, which makes last month the March with the highest number of listings in the history of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS®.
"Despite the record number of listings, our inventory – the number of active listings at month end – saw just a slight increase from last month, creeping up from 0.5 months to only 0.6," said Randy Pawlowski, 2022 LSTAR President. "The sales-to-new-listings ratio for the entire jurisdiction of LSTAR was 67.9%, much lower than a year ago, but still indicating a Sellers' market," he continued. "The latest interest rate hike by the Bank of Canada may have put a damper on what has been so far a truly fierce competition among local home buyers," he explained.
In March, the overall average price for all home types in our area was $823,954, whereas LSTAR's composite MLS® Home Price Index Benchmark Price sat at $774,200. "These figures suggest that the pace of home price gains might have started to slow down in our area," Pawlowski said. "It's way too early to predict the impact of this new measure, but Ontario Government's recent decision to increase the non-resident speculation tax to 20% and expand it throughout the whole province might also help tame home prices," he added.
The following table shows how March's average home sales prices in LSTAR's five main regions compare to the benchmark prices for the same areas.
| Central Elgin | $826,600 | $927,880 |
| London East | $685,600 | $669,005 |
| London North | $894,800 | $947,700 |
| London South | $770,100 | $823,904 |
| Middlesex Centre | $1,085,800 | $1,228,124 |
| St. Thomas | $665,200 | $728,860 |
| Strathroy-Caradoc | $869,200 | $860,138 |
| LSTAR | $774,200 | $823,954 |
