Talk about curb appeal.

For the first time in five years, the London-St. Thomas real estate market has shattered a monthly sales record, notching its best June ever for home sales and extending to 14 the number of months in a row in which sales rose over the same month the previous year.

London’s market has been on a roll with the area’s bounce-back from the last recession, with its jobless rate running at an eight-year low of 6.1 per cent — even better than the Canadian and Ontario averages — and the economy shaking off the after-effects of the 2008 downturn that stubbornly hung on in the region, long after it had faded to a memory elsewhere in the country.

Sales are so strong — 1,109 places changed hands last month — that the new supply of listings of homes for sale can’t keep up with demand, eroding the inventory of real estate already on the market.

Even the president of the area realtors’ association is shaking his head.

“I am a bit surprised,” Carl Vandergoot of the London St. Thomas Association of Realtors said Thursday.

“Sales continue and you keep waiting for it to slip back a bit.”

But, so far, there’s no sign that’s happening.

Sales of detached homes rose by a solid 11.5per cent last month over the previous June, reaching just shy of 900, while sales of condominiums were up nearly 20 per cent in the same year-over-year period. It was the first time since April 2010 that a monthly record had been toppled in the area market.

Greasing sales, observers say, are job growth, historically low mortgage rates and affordable home prices, which in London-St. Thomas are less than half the Ontario average.

“It’s the perfect storm for a lot of people now and that makes for a dynamic market,” said ­Vandergoot.

But the strongest part of the local market isn’t the first-time buyer, it’s those shopping for higher-priced homes in the $250,000 to $350,000 range, Vandergoot said.

London’s average house price, up 4.2 per cent, now stands at $264,834 this year.

It’s not tough to find salespeople who testify to the hot market.

“It was a good month,” London realtor Alex Lau of Realty Executives Elite confirmed.

In total value of the homes he sold last month, Lau estimates he roughly doubled his sales from June 2014.

He’s been selling this summer to a lot of professionals, namely professors, doctors and nurses. He says his clients are web-savvy and have seen all the reality TV shows about real estate.

“With the more educated buyers . . . they basically know what they want,” Lau said.

He says London buyers, in general, are becoming much more attuned to the market.

“It really goes down to pricing. We are so price-sensitive in London,” he said. “London consumers will pick up on overpricing and your home will not sell.”

Rob Sanderson with ReMax Advantage echoed Lau’s take on the market.

“Best month of June we have had,” Sanderson wrote in an e-mail. “Our own sales were excellent in all price ranges . . . Resales are great in London and surrounding communities. A very good ­market.”

The strong realty market fuels the whole economy, Vandergoot said, noting each sale generates about $52,000 in spin-off spending for moving, legal fees, ­furniture, appliances and ­renovations.

“It’s a good sign for London and area,” he said. “Our economy is looking strong and there’s good confidence among consumers.”

At the end of last month, the market’s inventory — total number of homes for sale — was down 5.5 per cent, even though new listings rose 6.8 per cent.

Vandergoot said the market is still considered balanced between buyers and sellers but the supply is starting to tighten up.

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THE TALE OF THE TAPE



The sales picture

June 2015 vs. (June 2014)

Detached home: 892 (800), up 11.5 per cent

Condos: 217 (181), up 19.9 per cent

Total: 1,109 (981), up 13 per cent

January to June 2015 vs. (January to June 2014)

Detached homes: 3,939 (3,501), up 12.5 per cent

Condos: 951 (836), up 13.8%

Active listings End of June 2015 vs. (June 2014)

3,848 (4,072), down 5.5 per cent

Average price 2015 to date vs. 2014 to date

$264,834, up 4.2 per cent

Sale spinoffs