There were 344 residential transactions recorded via the MLS® System of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR), the lowest since 2009! 823 new listings came on the market, bringing the total number of listings to 1,261, which works out to 3.7 months of inventory which is a buyer’s market!
The two tables below show January 2023 prices, and the table below shows the changes in the London area real estate market over the last three years.
The following table shows how January’s average home prices in LSTAR’s main regions compare to the benchmark prices for the same areas. (The MLS® HPI is a measure of real estate prices that provides a clearer picture of market trends over traditional tools such as mean or median average prices.)
| Area | January 2023 MLS® HPI Benchmark Price | January 2023 Average Price |
|---|---|---|
| Central Elgin | $573,200 | $602,500 |
| London East | $475,500 | $463,500 |
| London North | $682,800 | $678,923 |
| London South | $565,900 | $593,949 |
| Middlesex Centre | $800,000 | $791,556 |
| St. Thomas | $484,100 | $529,512 |
| Strathroy-Caradoc | $691,200 | $611,784 |
| LSTAR | $568,300 | $585,252 |
The following table shows the January 2023 benchmark prices for all housing types in LSTAR’s jurisdiction and how they compare with the values from 2022 and 2020.
| MLS® Home price Index Benchmark Prices | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| BENCHMARK TYPE | JANUARY 2023 | CHANGE OVER JANUARY 2022 | CHANGE OVER JANUARY 2020 |
| LSTAR Composite | $568,300 | ↓22.2% | ↑40.8% |
| LSTAR Single-Family | $604,200 | ↓23.1% | ↑40.9% |
| LSTAR One Storey | $545,000 | ↓21.5% | ↑42.6% |
| LSTAR Two Storey | $644,900 | ↓24.0% | ↑40% |
| LSTAR Townhouse | $501,100 | ↓18.6% | ↑48.7% |
| LSTAR Apartment | $374,600 | ↓16.8% | ↑29% |
What does this all mean?
Glass half full or glass half empty? The homes that did sell in January were priced correctly, the homes that did not sell, low traffic, price or condition was the reason. What will happen is that buyers will start buying regardless of interest rates, and wise sellers will price assertively, meaning we may see a 5% drop in the benchmark prices for February and early March. Then a balanced market where real estate fundamentals are the norm and buyers accept that the mortgage rates will remain stable.
This table shows the HPI benchmark prices for January 1 across Canada, courtesy of CREA. (Canadian Real Estate Association)
