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Home prices are down and so is the number of sales amid higher interest rates. That much we all know about London’s housing market. But there’s certainly more happening on the ground than that. That’s why Free Press reporter Jonathan Juha took a closer look at the latest housing market figures to dig up other local trends.
Homes are also taking longer to sell
If you asked home-sellers in the ’90s and told them their property would be sold in less than a month, they would’ve signed that deal instantly, considering the average listing stayed on the market for nearly three months back then. But in 2024, the 19 days it’s taking for a home to sell may seem like an eternity compared to the seven it took in 2021 and 2022.
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“We are just getting back to normal,” said Vicki Zavitz, a realtor with Century 21 First Canadian Corp. “When I started, typically a property staying 30 days on the market was not outrageous.
“But what we’ve seen in recent years with five days on the market being the average, that was extreme.”
Single-family homes are not selling like they used to
For many Canadians, the dream of homeownership usually involves a detached, single-family home with a nice backyard and ample space. But looking at local sales figures for those types of properties, fewer people are fulfilling that dream in 2024.
In total, 3,731 family homes were sold in the first seven months of this year. And while that’s a 2.8 per cent improvement over 2023, it’s a significant drop from the market’s peak. Compared to 2021, sales are down by a whopping 36.6 per cent, and they’re even 8.8 per cent lower than at the same point a decade ago, in 2014.
Interest rates are culprit No. 1, but so is inflation, said Drew Johnson, broker of record for Coldwell Banker Power Realty.
“The cost of food is up, the cost to eat out is up and things are so expensive,” he said. “The number one reason for housing is interest rates but consumers, I think, are pretty conservative because it’s costing them a lot more to do everything else.”
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London technically became a buyer’s market in July
The overall sales-to-new listings ratio for the London-St. Thomas Association of Realtors in July was 39 per cent, which is just below the ratio between 40% and 60% the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) considers reflective of a balanced market. Part of the dip can be attributed to the annual lull the housing market enters during the summer months, as well as the high number of homes now for sale.
“Traditionally, July is the second slowest month, next to December,” Johnson said. “But we’ve also had more inventory coming on, which has probably pushed us into that area because the sales have been static.
“There just hasn’t been the demand to pick up the slack yet.”
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