The London-area real estate market is capping off a strong first quarter with more inventory and March home sale numbers up slightly from the same month last year.

Numbers released Wednesday by the London and St. Thomas Association of Realtors (LSTAR) say 814 homes were sold in the area last month, a 0.4 per cent increase from March 2018. It’s the third consecutive month of year-over-year gains.

“Just three months into the year, there have been 1,939 home resales, which is an increase of six per cent over the same period last year,” LSTAR president Earl Taylor said in a statement.

But it’s not just home sales that are up in LSTAR’s jurisdiction, which includes London, St. Thomas, Strathroy and parts of Middlesex and Elgin counties; the number of homes on the market is up, too.

“We saw 1,411 active listings in the marketplace, which is 14.5 per cent more than March of 2018,” Taylor said in a statement.

Active listings in St. Thomas were up 51.1 per cent from the same month last year. London north had a 51 per cent increase in homes on the market and Middlesex county has a 20.1 per cent increase, LSTAR said.

The region has been grappling with a shortage of homes for sale, which has increased prices.

The inventory of homes on the market in the London area last year hovered close to a decade-low set in 2017.

The average sales price for the LSTAR region was a record $405,956 last month, an increase of 11.3 per cent over March 2018.

The average home price builds on a record February in the LSTAR region, when the sellers’ market pushed the average home price in London to more than $400,000 for the first time.

February’s average home price – which factors in all housing types, including single detached homes and apartment condos – was $405,186 in London.