Sales of detached homes dipped 15.9% in November 2012, with 417 homes exchanging hands.
Sales of condos, however, were up 18.8%, with the result that, Year-to-Date, total sales are down only a modest 0.3%. "With the exception of last month, condo sales have been quite slow over the past half a year," says Barb Whitney, President of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR), "so it's good to see that condos starting to move well again." Altogether 512 homes sold, down 11.1% from the previous year.
New listings were down 12.9% for detached homes and 9% for condos. Overall new listings were down 12.1%. Inventory – the number of active listings at month end – was also down 5%. However, "sales to new listings ratio, a measure of market balance, confirms that our market remains a balanced one," says Whitney.
London's Sister City of St. Thomas experienced a similar slowdown, with 8 fewer sales than in November 2011. However, its average price Year-to-Date holds steady at $191,680 up 1.2% from December 31, 2011.
“This month's sales figures are right in line with what we expected and CMHC forecast," says Whitney, "and that's a steady, solid market going forward into the next couple of years."
The average price for a detached home in LSTAR's jurisdiction Year-to-Date stands at $254,389, up 4% compared to December 31, 2011, while the average price for a condo for that same period stands at $171,581, down 4.4%. The average price for all housing types Year-to-Date stands at $238,935, up 2.8%.
The average price of a home in Canada in October 2012 (the latest information available) stood at $361,516.
