January 2024 Market Watch by LSTAR

by Sam Dabbagh

Home Sales, Listings Take a Leap in January

439 residential transactions were recorded last month via the MLS® System of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR), 28.7% more than in January 2023. The number of newly listed properties climbed from 386 in December 2023 to 873 in January 2024.

“The number of home sales is consistent with LSTAR’s 10-year-average for January, but the jump in newly listed properties is significant. In January, we saw the third highest number of new listings for that month,” said 2024 LSTAR Chair Kathy Amess.

Out of the 439 properties sold in January, 329 were single-family homes, 74 were townhouses, and 31 – apartments. January’s average price for a single-family home in LSTAR’s jurisdiction sat at $660,686, while that of a townhouse settled at $504,304. The average price of an apartment from the London-St. Thomas region was $319,210. “When compared to last January the average prices for townhouses and apartments saw a slight decline. However, the average price of a single-family home increased by 3.8%,” Amess emphasized.

Housing supply dropped from 4.4 months of inventory in December to only 3.3 months in January.

“LSTAR’s sales-to-new listings ratio sat at 50.3% last month. This and our January stats indicate a stable real estate market, which is positive news for everyone.” Amess said.

The average home price for the entire LSTAR jurisdiction reached $605,785 last month, up 3.9% over January 2023. However, the Composite MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) Benchmark Price ticked up at $573,300, 0.4% higher than a month ago, but 0.7% lower than a year ago.

The table below presents a detailed breakdown of January’s average and MLS® HPI Benchmark Prices in LSTAR’s main regions.

“In analyzing the real estate landscape for January 2024, it’s essential to discern between average prices and MLS® benchmark prices. The HPI benchmark price offers a glimpse into the perceived value of a ‘typical home’ in a specific area, taking into account certain housing attributes valued by local buyers. In contrast, the average sales price is derived by summing all home sale prices and dividing that total by the number of homes sold.

The HPI benchmark price is a more reliable tool for tracking trends over time because it provides a more stable reference point, unlike average sales prices, which can experience wild swings from one month to the next, due to only a few outliers from the sales activity mix.” Amess stated.

The following table shows how January’s benchmark prices for all housing types within LSTAR’s jurisdiction stack up against those recorded in the previous month and three months ago.

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