A tandem increase of inventory and home prices appears to be pointing to a strong real estate market in Sarnia-Lambton.
The Sarnia-Lambton Association of Realtors said the number of active and new listings were up for the month of July. There were 236 new listings last month compared to 227 in July 2022.
"Typically when you see a rise in inventory, you expect to see a decrease in pricing but we've seen both a rise in inventory and a rise in prices, which is very strong for the local market - whether you're buying or selling," said Association President Rob Longo.
The average price of homes sold last month was $578,997, which is an increase of 5.7 per cent compared to July 2022.
The year-to-date median price is sitting at $493,000, which is higher than the 2022 median of $490,500.
"So we're starting to make back some of the gains that we lost basically around the peak of home prices which was about 18 months ago," Longo said.
Longo said for years, Sarnia-Lambton was "severely under priced" compared to nearby areas. But following the pandemic, he said interest in the area has gone up.
Based on the boards monthly report, 122 homes were sold in July, which was a slight increase of 1.7 per cent compared to July 2022.
Homes sold at a slightly slower pace, taking about 18 days on average.
"I think that's to be expected with the uptick in inventory with more homes to select from and more homes on the market," said Longo. "At the end of the day, the biggest indicator we look at is the home price and obviously that's been strong this year, continually increasing. So as long as we can see increasing inventory and increasing prices at the same time, I think that's a signal for a very strong and robust local market."
Longo said typically, home sales slow down during the summer months but that hasn't been the case the last few years.
Looking ahead to August, he said it will be interesting to see if sales slow down or continue on trend with June and July.
-With files from Josh Boyce
