The London and St Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR) announced residential sales achieved its best February results ever, since LSTAR began tracking sales data in 1978. A total of 763 homes were sold in February, an increase of 17% over the same period last year.
"We experienced another strong month, with year-to-date sales also up by 19.5%" said Jim Smith, LSTAR 2017 President. "Again, we're observing this trend of low supply and high demand, with February having a 9.8% decrease in the number of available listings, compared to this time last year. For those considering of putting their home on the market, the current conditions are very encouraging."
In February, a total of 597 detached homes were sold, an increase of 15% over the previous year, while there were 166 condominium sales, up 24.8% from 2016. The average sales price was $307,831 up 7.9% from the previous month.
"Overall, we experienced a mild February in terms of weather, which also played in factor in helping the strong performance throughout the month,” Smith said. “And we continue to see robust activity in the condominium market, with a quarter more units sold."
St. Thomas also had a very healthy February, with a total of 69 homes sold, up 25.5% from the same time last year. The average home price in St. Thomas was $242,028, up 25.7% from the previous month.
|
House Style |
Units Sold |
Average Price |
|---|---|---|
| 2 storey | 158 | $436,333 |
| Bungalow | 70 | $229,471 |
| Ranch | 53 | $372,968 |
| Townhouse | 64 | $206,166 |
| High rise apt. condo | 44 | $193,576 |
The best-selling house style in February continues to be the two-storey, followed by the bungalow and ranch. The average price for a detached home in February was $327,754, up 4.4% from the previous month, while the average price for a condominium was $236,180, up 19.8% from the previous month.
The following table is based on data taken from the Canadian Real Estate Association's (CREA) National MLS® Report for January 2017 (the latest statistics available). It provides a snapshot of how average home prices in London and St. Thomas compare to other major Ontario and Canadian centres.
|
City |
Average Sale Price |
|---|---|
| Vancouver | $851,384 |
| Toronto | $803,455 |
| Fraser Valley | $643,331 |
| Victoria | $611,362 |
| Hamilton | $522,978 |
| Calgary | $466,984 |
| Kitchener-Waterloo | $421,151 |
| Ottawa | $389,875 |
| Edmonton | $360,199 |
| Niagara | $346,059 |
| Saskatoon | $335,812 |
| London St. Thomas | $292,291 |
| Canada | $484,306 |
According to a research report1, one job is created for every three real estate transactions and approximately $53,000 in ancillary spending is generated every time a home changes hands in Ontario. "Real estate continues to be a huge driver to the local economy," Smith said. "With the February sales, that translates into creating potentially over 250 jobs and putting us in a position to potentially generate around $40 million back into the local economy."
1 Economic Impacts of MLS® System Home Sales and Purchases in Canada and the Provinces, Altus Group Consulting, 2013
