Spring Surge and Year-Over-Year Trends
The London-St. Thomas housing market experienced upward momentum in home prices during spring, driven by reduced inventory and increased sales activity- as we predicted in our previous market update post. The average home price for June 2023 is $675,923, reflecting a 1.5% year-over-year decrease, while the median price of $635,000 has declined by 2.3% since June 2022, the declines are slowing massively compared to the past, St. Thomas even saw an average home price of $586,738 indicating a 3% year-over-year increase. Over the past three years, the region has witnessed a substantial 42% growth in average prices even with the substantial pricing downturn.
Sales by the numbers
The London and St. Thomas real estate market saw 543 single-family homes, 108 condo townhouses, and 52 apartments sold in June 2023. Notably, single-family homes’ average sold price remained unchanged at $736,051 year-over-year, while condo townhouses experienced an 8.2% decrease, with an average selling price of $535,360, and apartments had an average selling price of $430,002, up 4% from last year.
In June 2023, there were 745 sales, a 12.4% increase from the previous year, and 1,414 new listings, 18.1% less than June 2022. The sales-to-new-listings ratio (SLNR) was 53%, indicating that homes coming to market are being purchased as they are available.
Market Indicators and Predictions
The sale-to-list price ratio for June 2023 was 100.5%, suggesting that houses were selling close to their listed prices. The months of inventory stood at 2.2 months, down from 2.9 months in June 2022 but higher than 1.8 months at the end of the previous month. Even with what seems like quite a few sellers waiting for the right time, the high demand that has reached crisis proportions continues to snap up whatever is being listed. The powers that be have indicated that interest rates are unlikely to go much higher, at this point it’s a matter of seeing how the current rates will continue to affect consumer sentiment. Despite the price increases, London’s housing market remains relatively affordable compared to other Canadian cities like Toronto, where average home prices exceed $1 million.
