The president of Sarnia-Lambton's Real Estate Board has joined the Sarnia-Lambton Home Builders' Association calling for new residential zoned land to be added to the official plan.
Rob Longo said one of the biggest issues they have is a lack of inventory.
"The only real way to solve the supply and demand issue is to increase the supply, and increase the number of homes, or condos, or apartments that are available for people," said Longo.
That's why Longo said he's advocating for the unlocking of new development areas and increased intensification this year.
"I think it's frustrating for us as realtors, but it's frustrating for the consumers, developers, the home builders and everyone involved in that process as to how long these approvals can take."
Longo said there is a lot of land that could be developed.
For instance, the Home Builders' Association is asking that a section of land in Bright’s Grove, south of Lakeshore Road and between Brigden Road and Waterworks Road, be added to the official plan and zoned residential.
There were only 71 active residential real estate listings in Sarnia-Lambton in January.
"Typically we see these (winter) months as a little bit lower in inventory, but even just comparing previous Januarys, we're down almost 50 per cent in the number of active listings over last January," Longo said.
Dollar volume, at nearly $43 million in January, was 19 per cent higher and the median sale price of $510,000 represented a 25 per cent increase compared to the same month last year.