The January blahs didn't slow the surging London area housing market.
Despite being a traditionally slower time of the year for area realtors, 568 homes changed hands last month, giving the London St. Thomas Association of Realtors (LSTAR) its second-best January since 1978. Area realtors were just two sales shy of the all-time January sales record set in 2017.
The average selling price for a home was up 13.9 per cent from a year ago at $437,197.
"When compared to January 2010, the percentage of price growth is a whopping 95.2 per cent, which means that the value of homes in our area has almost doubled in the last ten years,” LSTAR President Blair Campbell said in a statement.
Housing prices in east London shot up 22.3 per cent to $388,161 last month compared to the same month a year earlier. North London saw a slight bump with the average cost of a home sitting at $503,576, a 5.4 per cent increase. Outside of London, prices were also on the rise. Strathroy was up 13.8 percent compared to January 2019 at $452,960, while the average home in St. Thomas sold for $384,291, a 12 per cent jump.
Campbell went on to note that the number of new listings last month saw a 9.4 per cent increase compared to January 2019.
"This increase in listings for the month is fantastic as the lack of inventory has been a significant concern over the past two years,” added Campbell.
As of the end of January, there were 2.2 months of inventory left throughout the London region - the lowest level in the last ten years.