The local housing market continued to make steady gains in February, with sales of
detached homes up 27.7% over February 2009 and 38.2% year to date and sales of
condos up 19.4% month over month and 34.2% year to date. “These percentage gains
look impressive,” cautions Richard Thyssen, President of the London and St. Thomas
Association of REALTORS®, “but we must factor in the significant downturn which
began early last year and from which we only began to recover in the Fall of 2009. What
we are seeing is a steady return to the more vibrant, solid market we were enjoying
before the global financial crisis.” A total of 605 homes exchanged hands last month; the
ten year average for home sales in February stands at 620. “To put this into perspective,”
says Thyssen, “the last decade has witnessed the highest volume of sales in our
Association’s nearly seventy-five year history, which means that it looks as if we’re back
on solid ground again. We’ve been very fortunate.”
In St. Thomas, London’s sister city, 44 homes exchanged hands for an average $168,645.
The ten-year average number of units sold in February stands at 51. “You see these kinds
of swings in smaller markets,” explains Thyssen. “In January 2010, for example, there
were 37 homes sold in St. Thomas, up 60.9% from the previous year, whereas a month
later, in February, 44 homes sold, down 15.4%. It’s the overall trends that we begin to
see over several months or on a quarterly basis that give us the real picture of how a
market is performing.”
The average price of a detached home in February 2010 year to date was $235,883, up
4.5%, while the average price of a condo rose 13.6% to $168,805. The average price of
total residential (both detached and condo) was up 6.0% to $222,680. “These upward
price adjustments also speak to a recovery,” says Thyssen.
“The resale housing market is becoming more balanced in a number of provinces,” said
Canadian Real Estate Association President Dale Ripplinger. “A more balanced market is
likely to result in smaller price increases going forward, with buyers in less of a rush due
to an increase in supply
The best-selling house style in LSTAR’s jurisdiction for the month of February was the
two-storey, followed by the bungalow, the ranch, and the townhouse condo: