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London’s housing market continues to blaze, with average home price now topping $618,000

THE LONDON AND St. Thomas Association of Realtors (LSTAR) announced Wednesday that 824 homes exchanged hands in February, achieving another monthly record for residential sales. Sales were up more than 19 per cent compared to the same time a year ago, marking the highest results ever for February, since the association began tracking data in 1978.

“This is the sixth consecutive month of record sales, demonstrating just how strong the housing marketplace is right now,” LSTAR 2021 president, Jack Lane, said in a statement. “Because of the low supply and high demand, we continue to see increases in average sales price across the entire region.”

With low availability continuing to spur multiple-bid scenarios, the average home price in London continues to climb to lofty levels. Overall, the average home price in the city in February sat at $618,707, a jump of 36.7 per cent from 2020 levels.

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Breaking down the city, the London East average price was $457,746 (up from $464,800 in 2020); London North was $710,269 (up from $652,100) and London South, which also includes data from London West, was $651,945 (up from $527,000).

“At the end of February, there were 0.6 months of inventory across the entire LSTAR area, lower than 0.8 months of inventory reported at the end of January,” Lane says.

Another measurement, the February sales-to-new-listings ratio, also shows how lopsided the current market is. “In the month of February, the ratio was 83.3 per cent for LSTAR,” Lane reports. “A ratio between 40 per cent and 60 per cent is generally consistent with a balanced market, again demonstrating how robust the marketplace is.”