Home Sales in March for London Ontario

Real Estate home sale numbers are in for March. Homes sales were solid for London Ontario. They were down 7% compared to March 2008 - which is encouraging (If homes sales for the remaining 9 months are 7% less then 2008's numbers, that would be a decent year).

I've repeatedly said that home buyers took a couple of months off due to the uncertainty in the world markets. Once they see the area market is stable, and the weather warms up, home buyers are going to be ready to buy - particularly first time buyers. Historical low interest rates and a buyers market are hard to ignore. We are starting to see that activity now. Sales numbers for April and May should reflect this - they won't be 2008 or 2007 numbers - but no one is expecting them to be nor do they have to be for the real estate market to function at a healthy rate. Homes prices have slipped 2.7% year to date compared to 2008. It will be interesting to see how this plays out the rest of the year. My prediction is by the end of the year homes prices will be 1% to 3% less the 2008 prices. (CMHC recently predicted 0-1%) I think there will be enough buyers and sales to keep the market stable and to keep in check the increased amount of new listings available.

You can read the full market report HERE. The follow is some brief comments from the report:
Last month, 669 homes exchanged hands in the jurisdiction of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR), including 551 detached homes (down 7.2% from March 2008) and 118 condos (down 21.9% from March 2008). Year to date, 1,174 detached homes and 276 condos have been sold - down 22.6% and 27% respectively compared to the same period in 2008.

"Compared to January and February of this year, we are certainly seeing stabilization in home sales in LSTAR's jurisdiction," says Joe Hough, LSTAR President. "January sales for detached homes were down 35% and February sales for detached homes were down 30%, so to see March home sales for detached homes down just 7.2% is very encouraging."

Hough says the average residential price is also holding steady. "Year-to-date for March 2009, the total residential average price is down 2.7% to $206,944, compared with a decline of 2.4% in February and 2.8% in January, so we are seeing some stabilization there as well."

St. Thomas sales were up in March. "Compared to March 2008, sales of units in St. Thomas actually increased by 14.6%," says Hough. "But the average home price has declined by 7.2%." "Typically the Spring market we're moving into generates more activity, and this year there are the benefits from historically low mortgage rates and improved affordability in most markets," says the President of the Canadian Real Estate Association, Calvin Lindberg. "REALTORS® are reporting increased interest, especially from first-time homebuyers."