Bidding wars, elated sellers, frantic buyers.

In the dead of winter, there’s no sign of cooling in the London area’s real estate market.

The London and St. Thomas Association of Realtors (LSTAR) said January set a record for that month’s sales, following up on 2016 when sales blew through the 10,000 mark for the first time.

One London realtor said there’s no sign the party will end soon, with multiple offers pouring in on many listings.

“It’s just a crazy market. It’s such a fantastic market for sellers and such an emotional market for buyers – a lot of frustration,” said Sam Abouzeid, an real estate sales representative  with Royal LePage Triland.

Abouzeid said he has heard of as many as 20 offers on one property and one house that recently sold for $60,000 above the asking price.

He said some buyers are so frantic they are waiving home inspection and finance clauses.

He said the London market, with housing prices only a fraction of the Greater Toronto Area, is attracting outside interest with GTA and foreign investors snapping up multiple building lots.

Abouzeid is predicting 2017 will be another big year. “I think it’s safe to say this is going to continue.”

A total of 574 homes sold in January, up 26 per cent from January 2016 and the best sales for that normally slow month since LSTAR began tracking sales data in 1978.

“We’re off to a tremendous start this year with our best January ever,” said LSTAR president Jim Smith,

He said the trend of high demand and low supply continues, with January seeing a drop of 12.2 per cent in the number of listings compared to the previous year.

The January totals include the sale of 434 detached homes, an increase of 15.1 per cent over the previous year.

But the real breakthrough was 140 condo sales, up 79.5 per cent from 2016. The average sales price was $285,418, up 0.5 per cent from the previous month.