The president of the Sarnia-Lambton Association of Realtors is "keeping an eye on how things play out with tariffs and interest rates this year."
Jeremy Guerette said it's too early to tell if tariff changes will have an impact on local employment and real estate sales.
"I think it's on everyone's mind," said Guerette. "I don't know how much of an impact it would have directly on our immediate local economy, but I think its got to have some impact. It seems like maybe things have pushed off until April, so I think it's more just the question right now. Is it going to happen? How long is it going to happen for? So, there's a bit of uncertainty and that can have an impact on the market."
Guerette thinks if tariffs came into play, interest rates could fall faster.
"My understand is that the interest rates would be one tool that the Bank of Canada might have to use to keep the economy trying to run at its best," he said. "So, I think that might encourage rates to come down in fact. Obviously, we'll have to wait and see."
Guerette said sales in February were steady compared to the same month last year.
There were 95 sales recorded, down about six per cent from February 2024, bringing the dollar volume to just over $51 million for the month.
"The one thing I am seeing is that we've got a good amount of homes on the market," he said. "Overall, the sales have been pretty steady. So, there is a demand still. So, I haven't seen any impact from all of that snow. We still had some pretty decent sales for February."
There were 205 new listings and 522 active listings in February.
"I definitely think it's a breath of fresh air for buyers to have a lot more options to choose from," Guerette said. "They can shop around, potentially even negotiate on a home. Those are all things that back when COVID was on, and the market was super hot, there was barely any houses on the market. It's a completely different market now. It's a lot more balanced and I think it's better overall for everyone."
The median sale price was $520,000 in February and listings spent about 25 days on the market.