Average home prices in the London-area went up slightly in October, but interest rate hikes have created a soft landing in the market.
Those statistics come from the latest report by the London St. Thomas Association of Realtors (LSTAR). According to the report, the area had 975 new listings go to market in October, 504 of which exchanged hands.
LSTAR said that while the number of new listings were equal to the average value recorded over the last ten years during October, monthly home sales were at their lowest in the last decade.
"This year's successive increases in interest rates put a big dent in the local home sales activity and made the year-over-year price values plunge," said 2022 LSTAR President Randy Pawlowski
Pawlowski said that the area's sales-to-new listings ratio went up by about nine per cent in October, from 42.7 per cent in September, to 51.7 per cent. He said this further shows how the market has started to balance. For comparison, in January 2022, 669 new listings were put up for sale, 529 of which were purchased before the end of the month.
Prices in the region have fallen significantly when compared to the start of 2022. In February average home prices broke records when they topped $825,000. The average price in the London-St. Thomas region rose only marginally last month to $640,570, that's about $5,300 more than September's average.
Housing inventory levels also remained steady in the area with 3.2 months worth available and 1,620 active listings by month's end.
"The numbers of both active listings and inventory months are now at healthier levels, but they’re still lower than those seen at the beginning of this decade, which hints that the housing supply issue is still there," said Pawlowski.
Homes in the London-area are still considered quite affordable when compared to the rest of the country. Home prices in the Ottawa-region came just ahead of London in October, while Huron-Perth came just behind it. Oakville and Milton took the top most expensive region to buy a home in the country last month, followed by the Greater Vancouver area.
Graph supplied by LSTAR.
