The average sale price of a home in London and the surrounding area grew close to the $700,000 mark in September.
Last month, the London and St. Thomas Association of Realtors (LSTAR) reported that 864 homes were sold making it the second-highest September to date.
"In the first nine months of this year, 8,756 homes traded hands in our area, which is an unprecedented total for our September year-to-date figures," said 2021 LSTAR President Jack Lane.
Prices in the region continue to go up as the average price of a home sold in the London and St. Thomas-area reached $690,861 in September, an increase of over $70,000 compared to August 2021 and a 1.1 per cent increase from the September 2020 average of $575,785.
Over 1,000 new listings were put on the market in September which is on-par with pre-pandemic values the real estate association said. By the end of the month, there were only 628 active listings remaining, the lowest ever seen in September.
"These figures show clearly that houses in our area are in very short supply," Lane said. "The shortage is also demonstrated by the very low number of months of inventory - 0.6, which indicates that, at the current sales pace, it would take only a bit over two weeks to liquidate the entire existing housing inventory of LSTAR."
Most listings in London didn't stay on the market for very long either. The median number of days a house was on the market in London was between seven and eight days.
While single-family homes remain the preferred type of houses for local buyers, heading into the final stretch of 2021, Lane said other types of homes are getting lots of attention in the market too.
"So far, both condo townhouses and apartments had their best year ever, with 1,087 and 812 units respectively exchanging hands year-to-date," Lane noted.
Home prices in LSTAR's jurisdiction are considered affordable when compared to the rest of the country ranking as the ninth most expensive in Canada. The Vancouver-area and Fraser Valley in British Columbia and the Greater Toronto Area remain as the top three most expensive areas in the nation. Ottawa comes just ahead of London and St. Thomas, while Windsor-Essex trails just behind.