March Sales Statistics

The REALTORS^® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported 1268 property sales were processed through the RAHB Multiple Listing Service^® (MLS^®) system in March.  This represents a nine per cent increase in sales compared to March of last year.

There were 1885 properties listed in March, a decrease of 1.3 per cent from the same month last year.  End-of-month listing inventory was 12.9 per cent lower than last year at the same time.

The average sale price of $409,684 was 4.3 per cent higher than last March.

“The low inventory of listings is still the story,” said RAHB CEO Ross Godsoe.  “A one per cent decrease doesn’t sound like much, but last March’s listings were down almost 10 per cent from the year before that.  Put in context, listings this March were 8.7 per cent lower than average for the last ten years.  Low inventory coupled with sales that are almost at the 10-year average are driving the price increase and the seller’s market.”

Seasonally adjusted* sales of residential properties were 2.4 per cent higher than the same month last year, with the average sale price up seven per cent for the month.  Seasonally adjusted numbers of new listings were 8.4 per cent lower than the same month last year.

Seasonally adjusted data for residential properties for the month of March, 2014:

Actual overall residential sales were 8.9 per cent higher than the previous year at the same time.  Residential freehold sales were 6.5 per cent higher than last year while the condominium market saw an increase of 19 per cent in sales.  The average price of freehold properties showed an increase of seven per cent over the same month last year; the average sale price in the condominium market increased three per cent when compared to the same period last year.

The average sale price is based on the total dollar volume of all properties sold.  Average sale price information can be useful in establishing long term trends, but should not be used as an indicator that specific properties have increased or decreased in value.

The average days on market decreased from 44 to 37 days in the freehold market and from 43 to 39 days in the condominium market.

Every community in RAHB’s market area has its own localized residential market.  Please refer to the accompanying chart for residential market activity in select areas in RAHB’s jurisdiction.

January 2014 Stats

The REALTORS^® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported 781 property sales were processed through the RAHB Multiple Listing Service^® (MLS^®) system in January.  This represents a 2.8 per cent increase in sales over January of last year.

There were 1496 properties listed in January, a decrease of 9.5 per cent from the same month last year.  End-of-month listing inventory was 12.6 per cent lower than last year at the same time.

The average sale price of $395,445 was 9.3 per cent higher than last January.

 “The cold weather certainly didn’t keep buyers away,” said RAHB CEO Ross Godsoe. “Residential sales are higher than both last year and the average for the last ten years.  The lower inventory of listings coming out of last year and lower-than-average new listings in January kept the seller’s market going.”

Seasonally adjusted* sales of residential properties were 2.7 per cent higher than the same month last year, with the average sale price up 10.3 per cent for the month.  Seasonally adjusted numbers of new listings were 4.4 per cent lower than the same month last year.

Seasonally adjusted data for residential properties for the month
of January, 2014:

Actual overall residential sales were 3.6 per cent higher than the previous year at the same time.  Residential freehold sales were 4.6 per cent higher than last year while the condominium market saw a decrease of just under one per cent in sales.  The average price of freehold properties showed an increase of 11 per cent over the same month last year; the average sale price in the condominium market increased 6.3 per cent when compared to the same period last year.

The average sale price is based on the total dollar volume of all properties sold.  Average sale price information can be useful in establishing long term trends, but should not be used as an indicator that specific properties have increased or decreased in value.

The average days on market increased from 53 to 54 days in the freehold market and from 55 to 56 days in the condominium market.

Every community in RAHB’s market area has its own localized residential market.  Please refer to the accompanying chart for residential market activity in select areas in RAHB’s jurisdiction.

*Seasonal adjustment removes normal seasonal variations, enabling analysis of monthly changes and fundamental trends in the data.

2014 Real Estate Forecast

The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton‐Burlington (RAHB) expects
to see average sale prices of residential properties increase by 3.5 per cent in 2014, according to president
Tim Mattioli. He predicted a market similar to 2013.

In a pre‐recorded conversation with RAHB CEO Ross Godsoe, Mattioli noted that despite a drop in
consumer confidence, continued low interest rates and stable unemployment rates in the Hamilton CMA
bode well for the coming year.  
 
“We can be cautiously optimistic for 2014,” he said.  “We’re looking at a pretty good year again.”

Mattioli predicted 14,000 residential property sales in 2014 and 19,500 residential listings. Average sale 
price is expected to increase by about 3.5 per cent.

Results from 2013 showed that all property listings and sales had increased over the previous year, with
average sale price up by 6.5 per cent. Total dollar volume from the sale of all properties was over $5.474
billion, more than a 10 per cent increase over 2012.
 
The residential market similarly showed listings and sales up over 2012 with the average sale prices up by
6.7 per cent over the previous year. Average days on market remained steady at 44 days in 2013. For much
of the year, a seller’s market prevailed.

Godsoe noted that the average sale price quoted for RAHB can be misleading.  “When (people) hear the
REALTORS® Association of Hamilton‐Burlington and they hear that average sale price, they think that’s the average sale price of a house in Hamilton,” he said.  He noted the average sale price for the city of
Hamilton is $307,000 and “in many areas in our marketing area, the average sale price is under $200,000
and also in some areas we have an average sale price of over $400,000.”  He emphasized the importance of using a REALTOR® when buying or selling a home, because “they know the market, they know the
communities, they know the areas.”

Mattioli noted that the year began with a reduced inventory of listings carried over from the previous year,
and the lower inventory was felt throughout the year.

Godsoe compared last year’s predictions with the final results for the year and noted that listings and sales
were close to their predicted levels, but the average sale price rose considerably more than the predicted
rate of inflation.

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