The president of the Sarnia-Lambton Association of Realtors said prospective buyers may be holding out for lower interest rates as the market saw another slight drop in the number of home sales.
Jeremy Guerette said both sales and the dollar volume declined again in July, after drops were experienced in June.
"But relatively steady over that period I'd say. So overall, I think we're kind of stabilizing and really I think people are in a situation where, with the interest rates, if they come down a little bit, maybe we'll start to see some more buyers enter the market."
Year-to-date sales activity dropped slightly by 1.7 per cent. There were 143 sales last month.
Guerette said a "good mix" of bungalows, raised ranches, and some two-storey houses sold in July.
"I would say that middle price range, anywhere from $300,000 to $600,000, is moving pretty good. The upper-end price range is a little slower than it has been, I think a lot of that's due to the interest rates. We are starting to see those ease so if we continue to see some drops, we're hoping to see that part of the market pick up as well."
The year-to-date median price was $479,450, which is a decline of 2.2 per cent compared to last year.
Listings spent about 24 days on the market in July.
The market did see an increase in new and active listings, with roughly four months worth of inventory.
There were 285 new listings in July, which is up 16.8 per cent compared to July 2023.
Guerette said with the sales to new listing ratio at 50 per cent, the local market remains balanced.
"For many years, we had very low inventory so the inventory is up. We're seeing that all over the province which also will be, hopefully, helpful when it comes time to drop rates," he said.
Many regions across the country noted similar trends in the real estate market.
The Canadian Real Estate Association said national home sales dipped 0.7 per cent month-over-month in July. Meanwhile, the number of newly listed properties ticked up 0.9 per cent month-over-month.