Home buyers had three months worth of inventory to choose from in February, according to the president of the Sarnia-Lambton Association of Realtors.
Rob Longo said there were 278 active real estate listings last month, compared to only 71 in February 2022.
"We did see a lot more listings coming on board in February, which was as expected," said Longo. "We've seen the number of new listings steadily increase over the last few months and we are seeing good levels of inventory right now."
Longo said active listings are returning to pre-pandemic levels experienced in 2016 and 2017.
"Having more selection is a great thing. We've always advocated for that. Having new listings and lots of inventory to look at is good for the buyers that are out there looking. I think a lot of people in the second half of 2022 sat on the sidelines. They weren't too sure exactly what was going to happen with prices, interest rates, and inventory levels, so they kind of held back. We're seeing a lot of them coming out now looking for homes and purchasing new homes."
Longo expects the "fairly busy start to the year" to continue.
"It is important to remember that when we're comparing to 2022 numbers, January and February last year were really the peak of the market for the last three years."
While the amount of listings grew in February, sales activity dropped.
Only 102 homes sold last month, down over 16 per cent from February 2022.
The median sales price so far this year is $454,900.
On average, homes are taking 23 days to sell and selling for 96 per cent of their asking price.
