The president of the Sarnia Lambton Association of Realtors says the local market was reasonably active in January, despite the cold and snowy winter weather.
Jeremy Guerette said a total of 81 homes were sold across Lambton County last month, which is down by under five per cent from January of 2025.
"There's not really a meaningful drop there," said Guerette. "If I go back to about 2021, that's about average. We were anywhere from 83 to 86 sales within that six year span."
Guerette said right now conditions are slightly favouring buyers.
"Technically, at the end of last year, I think we were in a balanced market but maybe on the low end of that," said Guerette. "So, I think it's still leaning towards a buyers' market. It's a good time to buy. But, for sellers, if things are priced well there are buyers in the market and that's a positive thing."
Guerette said there are currently 427 active listings across the county, amounting to over five months of inventory.
He said that's been about the average over the past three years.
"But, it is high when we go back and look at a 10 year timeline," he said. "That's affecting the number of days on the market, so it is taking a little longer to sell a home. Buyers have more selection to choose from. That kind of inventory will keep our prices going sideways and not going up. We'll have to watch the inventory levels as the year goes on."
January's average sales price was just shy of $473,500 but Guerette said they don't put a lot of weight on just one month's worth of data.
"In the month of January, we have fewer listings and fewer sales. It can be weighted by specific home priced areas selling more than others," said Guerette. "So, we're going to watch and see what happens. We ended the year (2025) the same way we started it last year which was at $525,000 as the average year to date sales price. I'd say that's probably a more realistic number."
Guerette said he's cautiously optimistic for a strong 2026.
Overall, 2025 was considered a "flat year" for the local market, and it's hoped we can turn the page.
"Locally, things seem to have stabilized and that's a good sign," he said. "I would expect this year to be a good year for the market as far as sales are concerned. I don't think it's going to be a record year by any means. But, things have stabilized and that's what we're predicting."
Homes are currently spending a median of 33 days on the market.
