The COVID-19 crisis has taken its toll on home sales in the London-area for the second straight month.
According to figures from the London St. Thomas Association of Realtors (LSTAR) 668 homes changed hands last month, a 41.6 per cent decrease from May of 2019. It follows a 55.4 per cent drop in the number of homes sold in April.
"Even though the total number of residential transactions remained well below the 10-year average, in May, we saw notable month-over-month increases: 42.4 per cent in home sales and 31.8 per cent in listings, which we find very encouraging," LSTAR President Blair Campbell said in a statement. "In addition, when looking at the year-over-year percentage changes, one can notice that the decrease in home sales is directly proportional to the one in listings, which means that the ratio between supply and demand is almost unchanged."
There were 973 listings last month, which was down 42.3 per cent compared to the same month a year ago.
Campbell added that despite the physical distancing rules and a ban on open houses, the area has remained a "sellers' market."
Overall average home prices continue to rise compared to last year, up 7.4 per cent to $445,732 in May.
"Looking at London's three main geographic areas, London south saw the highest number of home sales last month, while London east saw the biggest price gain compared to May 2019," Campbell said.
Average home prices in London east sat at $365,261, up 8.4 percent from the same time last year, while London north was right behind it with an average price increase of 7.7 per cent to $531,626. In London south, which includes figures from the west-end, the average cost of a home was up 6.5 per cent to $462,334 over May 2019.
St. Thomas' average price had just a slight increase of 1.7 per cent compared to May of last year, with the average home going for $370,182.
The median number of days a home was on the market in London was 14, up from just nine days in May 2019, according to numbers from the Canadian Real Estate Association. Homes in Elgin County were on the market on average 17 days, while those in Middlesex County were typically around for 22 days. In Strathroy the median number of days listed was up from 14 to 19 and St. Thomas was unchanged at 12 days.
