Fewer people were buying homes in Sarnia-Lambton last month, compared to August 2020.
Real-Estate Board President Rob Longo said a total of 164 homes sold, down 19 per cent compared to the same month last year.
"Overall, we still had a very good August, a very strong market," said Longo. "But August 2020 was just exceptionally high due to the pent up demand after the first half of 2020."
Longo said many residents were too busy with other things to focus on home purchases.
"This year, in going into stage three [of the COVID reopening plan], we had really good weather in August. People were getting out and about and really enjoying being outside, and going to restaurants and patios and different things like travelling. People were a little distracted in August, and I think that's why not as many people were listing their homes for sale."
Longo said the number of active listings in Sarnia-Lambton actually hit a record low for the month of August, as just 134 properties hit the market.
He said there continues to be a good mix of young and old buyers, both locally and from out of town.
Longo said it's a sellers' market, as homes are sitting on the market for about 24 days. He said the goal is to get more listings, and increase that number to 50 or 60 days to balance things out.
"I think now that people are getting back to school and into the swing of things, we're getting some sense of normalcy once again," he said. "Things will start to stabilize a little bit moving forward but we still expect it's going to be very busy through the rest of the year in terms of number of sales. In terms of home prices, I think we'll finish the year very strong."
The median price is $441,000, up 17 per cent over 2020. Homes sold for an average of 106 per cent above asking price.
