Evidence that market is stabilizing

In January 2010, 472 homes exchanged hands in the jurisdiction of the London and St.Thomas Association of REALTORS (LSTAR). “Given that the ten-year average for January home sales is 450, I’d have to say that last month’s sales were right in line with those of previous January's,” observes LSTAR President Richard Thyssen. “And that’s a high average, given peak years in 2006 and 2007. While it’s still early days, better numbers in October, November and December 2009 and now in January 2010 may indicate that the market is beginning to stabilize.” This month’s sales include 377 detached homes (up 53.9 % from January 2009) and 95 condos (up 58.3 % from January 2009). “Although these percentage increases seem large, you have to remember that January 2009 was down 35% from January 2008,” explains Thyssen. “Last January’s figures told us that we were in a significant downturn. Today’s tell us that we are in recovery.”