As real estate experts expected, the market in Sarnia-Lambton has started to cool down during the summer months and a return to a more balanced market is anticipated.
Sales activity for the local residential market in July was down 32.2 per cent compared to the same time last year. However, new listings were up 15.2 per cent.
President of the Sarnia-Lambton Real Estate Board Rob Longo said slower sales activity and more inventory comes as good news for buyers.
"We are expecting to see a little more coming on the market over the next little bit, which will help for all of those buyers who are out there looking. It'll just return things to more of a balanced market, which is what we're more typically used to seeing in Sarnia-Lambton; where we aren't having as many bidding wars."
The median price of homes sold in July was $480,500, which is 10.5 per cent higher compared to July 2021. Meanwhile, the median price for the year to date is $512,000, which remains up 17.7 per cent over last year's median.
Longo said with the return to a balanced market, sellers should expect listings to be up a little longer.
"It might take a little bit longer to sell your home because most houses now aren't selling right in that six to seven-day window like we saw before. It might take up to two, three, four weeks to sell your home," he said. "But the home prices are holding steady so we aren't expecting a big decrease in terms of values."
Homes are now selling, on average, in 17 days for 99 per cent of their asking price.