Sarnia has been named the most affordable medium-sized city in Ontario, even as house prices soar in the city.
The city topped the list compiled by ZOLO, a leading online real estate marketplace, which analyzed economic data from 200 small, medium and large-sized cities.
Sarnia-Lambton Real Estate Board President Rob Longo thinks it's great news.
"It really just validates what we already knew," said Longo. "Here as realtors and as locals, it's something that we've been preaching for the last little while. The affordability of Sarnia when you compare the median home sale price to the median household income."
According to Longo, sale prices in Sarnia are about four times the median household income, compared to communities of similar size where buyers pay eight to ten times their household income.
"I know it's difficult for some of the local residents when they see prices that have increased so much over the last few years, and obviously that is exceptional for us here in Sarnia as well. But, that's one of the nice things about this story. It's important to keep those statistics grounded in the fact that it still is actually affordable to buy a home in Sarnia-Lambton."
Longo believes the city is still rebounding from years of low house prices.
"Sarnia-Lambton was historically a little bit behind where we would liked to have seen. Obviously, Sarnia-Lambton has a lot to offer with the waterfront, the beaches and Lake Huron, the river and parks. Even things like shopping, the hospital and a lot of amenities here that we don't have in a lot of other cities that size in southwestern Ontario."
Longo said it's nice to see others discover that Sarnia is a "hidden gem."
"Being the largest city on Lake Huron, people are definitely starting to see that as they venture out of the GTA [Greater Toronto Area], but also other areas. We are seeing a lot of people from Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Windsor, as well. It's not just Toronto, or GTA people that are coming this way."
Volume sales reached $105 million, a 254 per cent increase over the same month last year.
