Sarnia-Lambton Association of REALTORS®

The number of homes sold through the MLS® System of the Sarnia-Lambton Association of REALTORS® totaled 132 units in March 2024. This increased by 6.5% (eight sales) from March 2023.

Home sales were 10.6% below the five-year average and 14.1% below the 10-year average for the month of March.

On a year-to-date basis, home sales totaled 306 units over the first three months of the year. This was a modest decline of 1.6% (five sales) from the same period in 2023.

“The spring market has kicked off on a positive note this past month, with sales surging by 30% month-over-month and achieving the highest single month total since June 2023. There was also a notable increase in the number of newly listed homes when compared to February,” said Jeremy Guerette, President of the Sarnia-Lambton Association of REALTORS®. “As a result, active listings have now risen significantly above long-term averages. Market balance has remained steady, with a slight tilt in favour of buyers. While it is uncertain if this trend will continue, for now the demand for MLS® listed homes in Sarnia-Lambton remains strong.”

The average price of homes sold in March 2024 was $525,050, nearly unchanged, down only 0.4% from March 2023.

The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $510,154, a minor increase of 1.9% from the first three months of 2023.

The dollar value of all home sales in March 2024 was $69.3 million, a moderate gain of 6% from the same month in 2023.

The number of new listings was up by 25.8% from March 2023. There were 278 new residential listings in March 2024. This was the largest number of new listings added in the month of March in more than a decade.

New listings were 24.4% above the five-year average and 27.1% above the 10-year average for the month of March.

Active residential listings numbered 447 units on the market at the end of March, an advance of 32.2% from the end of March 2023. Active listings haven’t been this high in the month of March in more than five years.

Active listings were 79.5% above the five-year average and 54.3% above the 10-year average for the month of March.

Months of inventory numbered 3.4 at the end of March 2024, up from the 2.7 months recorded at the end of March 2023 and above the long-run average of 1.9 months for this time of year. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.