Real estate fence sitting in London, Ontario is practically a pastime — buyers and sellers waiting for certainty that never quite arrives, while opinions, biases, and social media headlines fill the gap where real data should be. The actual facts about London's real estate market come from two places: LSTAR for local data and CREA for provincial and national figures. Everything else — economists, bank forecasts, neighbours, pickleball friends, your pastor — is noise dressed as intelligence. Ty Lacroix, Broker at The Envelope Real Estate Group, is in this market every day, talking to buyers, sellers, and agents, and can tell you what's actually happening right now — not what was reported two weeks ago.
Real estate fence-sitting in Canada seems to have become a pastime for anyone considering buying or selling a home. Why? Is it a buyer's market or a seller's market? Are prices too high? Are interest rates going up or down? Is now the right time — or should you wait just a little longer?
The fence is comfortable. It's also expensive, if you stay on it long enough.
If Numbers Don't Lie, Is It the Numbers — or How They're Created and Interpreted?
I talk to buyers, sellers, realtors, and mortgage brokers every day about the London, Ontario real estate market. At the end of most conversations, I ask the same question: "Where did you get that information?"
The answers reveal a lot. Miles Kington put it well: "Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad."
Opinions are not facts. Biases are not facts. Perceptions, beliefs, emotions, gut feelings, and social media feeds are not facts — even when they're delivered with complete confidence by someone who means well.
Where the Real Real Estate Facts Come From
There are two authoritative sources for real estate data in this market.
For London and St. Thomas specifically: LSTAR — the London St. Thomas Association of Realtors. Their monthly statistics cover sales volume, average prices, days on market, inventory levels, and benchmark prices by property type and area. This is the ground-truth data for what's actually happening in London.
For Ontario, Canada, and the provinces: CREA — the Canadian Real Estate Association. National context, provincial trends, and MLS® Home Price Index benchmarks that enable meaningful comparisons across markets.
One honest caveat on both: the published numbers are always one to two weeks behind. They tell you what happened, not what's happening today.
What tells you what's happening today is a local broker who is actively in the market — talking to buyers, sellers, and other agents every single day, tracking what's listed, what's sold, and what didn't. That real-time intelligence isn't published anywhere. It comes from being present.
Where Not to Base a Real Estate Decision
This list is longer, and worth being honest about.
Social media. Your neighbours. Your co-workers. Your mechanic, hairdresser, pickleball friends, or golf group. Economists. Provincial or federal government forecasts. Bank of Canada projections. Your financial advisor. Your pastor.
None of these sources have access to current, specific, local data. Most of them are repeating something they read, heard, or felt — and passing it on with the confidence of someone with no professional accountability for its accuracy.
You might think I'm biased, being a realtor. I'd argue I'm a realist. I know where most people get their real estate advice. And when that advice turns out to be wrong, somehow it's always the market's fault — or the realtor's. Never the hairdresser's.
The Cost of the Fence
Real estate fence sitting could end up being a pain in the butt. Or not. But the longer you sit on it waiting for certainty that data alone can't provide, the more of the decision gets made for you by time, by circumstance, or by a market that moved while you were waiting for a clearer signal.
If you want to know what the London market is actually doing right now — not what was reported two weeks ago, and not what your neighbour thinks — that's a conversation worth having with someone who's been in it every day.
Want the real picture of London's market right now — not the noise? Reach out for a private conversation — no pressure, no pitch.
