The new president of the Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors expects 2018 to be another banner sales year.
Steve Carroll takes over the helm from outgoing president Kristi Wiilder.
Chatham-Kent had record home sales in February, May, October and November and Carroll believes the trend will continue. Carroll says 2017 has been a fantastic year for local realtors because people are moving to Chatham-Kent and buying homes.
"Our pricing was probably the lowest or among the lowest in Ontario and we felt that something may happen to bring people down this way and it has happened big time," says Carroll.
The association says there were just two months of inventory or 260 homes for sale at the end of November.
A new board of directors will also be in place to start the new year.
Carroll thinks the trend will continue because Northern Ontarians are buying homes in Chatham-Kent because of the warmer climate and retirees from east of London are selling and buying less expensive homes here to boost their retirement fund.
"We do, we don't see any reason why it won't. Our prices have gone up and our inventory is very low but we're still having a third of our sales from outside of Chatham-Kent," Carroll says.
Carroll also predicts the low inventory dilemma will continue next year.
"The person who puts their home on the market, they have to have a plan of what they're going to do when their home sells quickly, which is what is happening now. So, unless you know exactly what you're doing, you're taking a bit of risk putting your home on the market," says Carroll.