The president of the Sarnia-Lambton Association of Realtors is describing 2025 as "pretty flat" overall, with no major spikes or dips in the local real estate market.
"The year-to-date average sale price ended the year almost exactly the way it ended last year," said Jeremy Guerette. "So that would indicate a pretty flat market, which I don't think is a bad thing considering we had a couple of down years."
The year-to-date average sales price was $525,416, compared to $526,550 in 2024.
In total, 1,564 homes were sold in 2025 and there were 3,266 new listings.
Guerette said he expects the market to remain stable at least for the beginning of 2026.
"We might start to see things pick up a little bit, maybe a little more optimism," he said.
For the month of December, sales saw a significant drop. A local market activity report said 74 homes were sold last month, representing a 22 per cent decline from December 2024.
The dollar volume was also down by nearly 20 per cent, at $37.5 million.
There were also fewer new listings, with 102 homes placed on the market, down 11 per cent from December 2024.
Homes sold last month spent about 46 days on the market.
"It's taking a little bit longer for homes to sell," Guerette said. "I think people have started to maybe accept pricing a little bit more and as things get priced accurately, the days on market should start to come down."
Guerette agreed it's "fair" to say the housing market is leaning toward a buyers' market.
"We never hit statistically, necessarily, a buyers' market but certainly had that feel, and we're statistically close to a buyers market all along the course of the year," he said. "We might see that come more into a balanced market as this year comes along but we'll have to wait and see."
The year ended with 412 active listings.
