August Was Not A Bad Month For Real Estate In London and St.Thomas

In August, 747 homes exchanged hands in the jurisdiction of the London and St.

Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR), a 2 per-cent decrease over August2008.

 This includes 600 detached homes (down 1.2 per cent from August 2008) and 147condos (down 5.2 per cent from August 2008).

Year-to-date 4,619 detached homes and1,069 condos have been sold - down 8.4 per cent and 18.2 per cent respectively compared to the same period in 2008.

 Sales in St. Thomas did extremely well - 75 homes exchanged hands in August 2009, a 50 percent increase over August 2008!

All of this is good news because it is an indicator of a positive outlook from consumers and helps the local economy in many ways. (One way is I get to put food on the table this month!)

 "Homebuyers recognize that interest rates and prices have bottomed out, and are taking

advantage of excellent affordability before prices and interest rates move higher," says

Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) President, Dale Ripplinger.

 "There is clear evidence that sentiment about making major purchases continues to improve,"

says CREA's Chief Economist Gregory Klump. "Activity may level out over the rest of the year as home prices and mortgage lending interest rates creep higher."

 The number of sales and average prices year-to-date for August 2009in the London area were:

Total Detached 4619 sales with an average price of $225,751, a 0 .7% decrease.

Total Condo sales were 1069 with an average price of $156,815, a 2.3% increase.

 The average residential price year-to-date for August 2009 in the London area is $212,795, a .3% increase.  In 2008 the average price was $210,888 and in 2007 the average price was $202,256.

As you can see, the London area is a stable market and our residential prices are reasonable compared to other major cities.

The best-selling house style in LSTAR's jurisdiction for the month of August was 172two-storey homes sold with an average sale being $292,569, followed by 143 bungalows with an average price of $171,548, followed by 83 ranches with an average price of $248,957 and finally, 76 townhouse condos with an average price of $152,183.

  The average prices across Canada were as follows:

London and St. Thomas was $213,932;

Calgary was $379,192;

Durham Region was $274,585;

Edmonton was $320,164;

Hamilton-Burlington and District was $285,858;

Kitchener-Waterloo was $273,895;

Ottawa was $299,961;

St. Catharine's & District was $218,287;

Toronto was $386,329; and

Greater Vancouver was $568,021.

 As you can see, the affordability of real estate in London is doable, the amenities the London area has to offer are immense and our weather is some what predictable (flip a coin and you'll be 50% correct sometimes!)

If you require further stats about the London area in more detail, just let me know.

Ty Lacroix