The president of the Sarnia-Lambton Real Estate Board says more inventory is key to alleviate pressure on the local housing market in the new year.
There were only 130 new listings in November, down 11 per cent compared to the same month in 2020.
Rob Longo said low inventory is a constant struggle.
"More homes on the market will be the big thing for 2022," Longo said. "If we can unlock more housing units within our communities, which will be from new developments, whether it be from single family homes, or apartment buildings, or condos. The city has done a lot of work with secondary suites, allowing you to have a basement apartment or a separate apartment in your home and even things like alleyway suites and potential garage units."
Longo said it's simple, if there's nothing new to choose from, people hang on to what they have.
"What we are very hopeful for is coming up this spring. It sounds like we should have some new developments happening and some new builds. I think that will help to free up a little bit of the market as people transition to new homes or downsize into different units."
Sarnia-Lambton Real Estate Board President Rob Longo. (Photo from RobLongo.ca)
While inventory is low, house prices continue to increase, and homes sold for about 108 per cent of their asking price in November in about eight days.
With a median sale price of just over $436,000 last month, 132 sales added up to a dollar volume of just over $65 million.
Longo said dollar volume for the month was 11 per cent higher than November 2020, and is on track to reach $1 billion for the year.
"We're going to get pretty close to that number, based on November and historical December numbers. I don't know if we're going to quite hit that, but we're definitely going to be close to that number and then for sure in 2022 I'm thinking we're going to be well over that number."
Supply and affordability isn't just a local concern, communities across the province and country are experiencing the same problem.
The Ontario government announced a new Housing Affordability Task Force Monday.
Its nine members will dive into the subject and share recommendations on how to address the issue early next year.
“Young families, seniors and all hardworking Ontarians are desperate for housing that meets their needs and budget,” said Premier Doug Ford. “At a time when our government is hard at work building an economy that works for everyone, this task force will provide us with concrete, expert advice that will support our government as we make it easier for more Ontarians to realize the dream of home ownership.”
In 2020, Ontario had its highest level of housing starts in a decade and the highest level of rental starts since 1992. Housing and rental starts in 2021 are on track to exceed these levels.
