Home sales in Sarnia-Lambton appear to have bounced back, following a slow month in September.
Sarnia-Lambton Association of Realtors President Rob Longo said 110 properties changed hands in October, which was up from 98 sales in September.
"September was a fairly slow month. It was one of the lowest months that we've seen recently in local history so we were pleased to see an increase again in October, that's what we expected," said Longo. "We are expecting the market to pick up a little bit as we head in towards the end of the year, and even through the first quarter of next year."
Longo said a contributing factor for the increase may be associated with interest rates holding steady. The Bank of Canada held its key interest rate at five per cent in its latest update.
"I think we're seeing more long-term forecasts with the interest rates that they will be held steady at these current numbers and not increased further," Longo said. "I think that's really bolstered consumer confidence locally."
Properties spent about 22 days on the market in October, which is on par with what was seen in the past few months.
"We don't want people to be alarmed when they see a larger number of homes on the internet - or on the market when they're searching, this is part of a normal cycle," he said. "Essentially, now we are sitting back to the 2016/2017 inventory levels that we would have expected."
Longo said it's still currently a balanced market. However, if the length of time homes spend on the market and the number of available properties increases, it could change to a buyers' market.
Homes also sold in October went for 98 per cent of the asking price.
The year-to-date median price sits at $487,000. Longo said the median price has stayed fairly steady throughout the whole year.
"We are pleased to see that sitting nice and steady for buyers and sellers to give some stability to the market and that's kind of the sweet spot to be right under $500,000," Longo said. "It puts us in a good place across southwestern Ontario geographically, compared to our competition in some bigger centres."
The number of new listings went up for the month of October to 259. There were 481 active listings.
