London's Real Estate Market Best April Ever

Best April Ever
Strong April sales continued to fuel the market rebound that began in October of 2009. 835 detached homes and 182 condos exchanged hands last month, up 25.4% and 31.9% respectively. All in all, residential sales were up 26.5% over last. It’s not just sales that are up, listings are up 22% over last year. That points to an uptick in consumer confidence.

Type Units Sold Average Price % Change from April 2009 While these figures are great news for our local market, it’s important to remember that we are in recovery we took a hit in 2009 and we’re just getting back up to speed. That being said, having the best April in LSTAR’s history is pretty exciting. The next best April was 2004, with 935 sales.

Another harbinger of a market’s health – average house price – also points to recovery. House prices continued to inch up, 13.1% for detached homes to an average for the month of $248,870 and the same percentage for condos, for an average price of $175,811. That doesn’t necessarily mean that all house prices are going up, it could just mean that there were more pricey homes in the mix for a particular month than previously and, indeed, that is what appears to have happened in April. Our hunch is that the owners and prospective buyers of these homes were just waiting out the Great Recession before jumping in. For example, in April 2009 only fifteen homes priced at over half a million sold, compared to this April when forty $500,000+ homes sold, an increase of 166%. There was a similar increase in the number of homes priced $300,000 to $500,000. 104 such homes sold in April 2009.compared to 171 homes in this range in April 2010 Despite price gains, London remains affordable when compared to other Canadian centres. Homes in LSTAR’s jurisdiction continue to maintain their affordability compared to other major Ontario and Canadian centers. According to the Canadian Real Estate Association’s Major Market MLS® Statistical Survey for February 2010 (the most current available), the average price year-to-date for: London and St. Thomas, $221,956 The best-selling house style in London for the month of April was the two-storey, followed by the bungalow, the ranch, and the townhouse condo: