Rebalancing act

London’s housing market has turned on its head ― here are a couple of things to keep in mind. Plus, high- and low-priced real estate listings around town this week

THERE ARE TWO concurrent events happening in housing right now. Firstly, the volume of housing sales has fallen dramatically due to a lack of buyers. There is a huge surge in inventory of homes for sale ― and a dramatic drop in prices ― but buyers remain on the sidelines. Rising interest rates and fear of recession obviously are significant factors in the lack of confidence that exists for homebuyers.

Secondly, after the last election, there is a belief at all three levels of government that we have a significant housing shortage (rental and otherwise) that must be addressed in any and all possible ways by government intervention and incentivization. CMHC, our federal housing authority, believes we must build 2.6 million homes over the next nine years to remedy the housing shortage.

More specifically, the housing shortages are basically limited to just B.C and Ontario. To put that in perspective: Canada has never built more than one million homes over a 10-year period. More than doubling our production in the very near future seems ambitious to a fault.

Obviously, we have a supply problem of all types of homes, and this requires urgent attention. Municipal planning, environmental review, density and transit remedies must all be streamlined along with approval processes. In addition, attracting and training skilled trades is a huge factor to turning the tide on the supply problem.

While we lament the supply shortage and the challenges ahead in resolving it, we wait for the end of June to see the monthly stats and learn just how much the market has stalled. We won’t know until Friday, but it seems likely we’re going to see a continued significant reduction in volume be reported, with average prices falling as well. Word on the street is that listings are sitting, price reductions are commonplace, and requests for showings for a typical listing can be counted on one hand.

Next Wednesday, I’ll share the numbers for June. After two years of relentless value and volume climbing, this spring has assured us that we’re not in Kansas anymore!

Market analysis provided by Marcus Plowright, Sales Representative, A Team London. Marcus can be reached at 519-872-8326 or marcus@ateamlondon.ca.

London East

Low

Address: 103-1176 Hamilton Road
MLS number: 40256828
List price: $179,900
Days on market: 48
Size: 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 505 square feet
Listing agent: Scott Vannoord, Sales Representative, Sutton Group Select Realty Inc., Brokerage

High

Address: 1745 Kilally Road
MLS number: 40284410
List price: $3,500,000
Days on market: 4 
Size: 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 4,700 square feet
Listing agent: James Hudson Smith, Sales Representative, Sutton Group-Select Realty Inc. Brokerage

London North

Low

Address: 170 Mount Pleasant Avenue
MLS number: 40280772
List price: $325,000
Days on market: 7
Size: 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1,369 square feet
Listing agent: Zannah Brown, Sales Representative, Keller WIlliams Lifestyles Realty, Brokerage

High

Address: 3-157 Windermere Road
MLS number: 40245977
List price: $2,950,000
Days on market: 65
Size: 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 5,186 square feet
Listing agent: Christine M. Crnich, Sales Representative, Oliver & Associates Real Estate Brokerage Inc.

London South & West

Low

Address: 100-198 Springbank Drive
MLS number: 40255158
List price: $225,000
Days on market: 52
Size: 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1,000 square feet
Listing agent: Karen Greason , Broker,  Re/Max Centre City Realty Inc., Brokerage

High

Address: 3944 Southwinds Drive
MLS number: 40275086
List price: $4,298,000
Days on market: 14
Size: 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, 7,475 square feet
Listing agent: Bradley Gleed, Broker, and Heather Gunn, Broker, Re/Max Hallmark A Team

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Disclaimer: London Inc. does not guarantee the accuracy of the statistical data on this page. The data does not represent the listings of any one agent or agency but represents the activity of the real estate community in the area. Any real estate agent’s ad appearing is separate from the statistical data provided, which is in no way a part of their advertisement.