‘Historically’ low inventory of new listings in Hamilton drives up average price of homes
Published November 5, 2020 at 8:00 am
The average price of homes in Hamilton in October was up by more than 19 per cent than the year previous, a new report from the local realtors association has determined.
The Real Estate Associated of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) said in their October report on the status of the local real estate market that a ‘historically’ low inventory of new listings has driven prices much higher than they normally would be this time of year.
The average price in October was $721,523, which was up 0.02 per cent from September and up 19.8 per cent from October 2019, which was $602,029.
“The trends this Fall are not reminiscent of what we would normally see – with October activity slowing slightly compared to September – and this is due to 2020 not being a typical year,” said RAHB President Kathy Della-Nebbia in the report.
“As a result of this unstable year, active listings at the end of each month are some of the lowest we’ve seen, exacerbating low inventory levels and continuing to drive average price.”
The number of active listings available at the end of the month was 39.8 per cent lower compared to the previous year.
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The report said 1,615 sales of residential properties located within the RAHB market area — which includes Hamilton, Burlington, Haldimand, and Niagara North — were processed through MLS last month.
Sales were down 7.6 per cent over last month and up 23.7 per cent over October of last year. New listings were down 12.8 per cent over September 2020 and up 5.5 per cent over last October.
In most neighbourhoods within the City of Hamilton, the average price saw a year-over-year increase of more than $100,000.
In Flamborough, as had been the trend in previous months this year, the year-over-year increase in the average price was more than $360,000.
West Lincoln saw the average price increase more than $500,000 from last year.
“If demand remains high and the economy doesn’t shut down, we may not experience the slow down we saw with the first wave,” said Della-Nebbia.
“The activity more likely to slow down is new listings, which will cause a further problem with supply and demand, and prices will continue to increase.”
The report also found that the number of sales for single-family properties within the entire RAHB market increased in October by 13.3 per cent compared to the same month last year, the number of new listings was down 14.7 per cent over last year, and the average sale price increased by 19.4 per cent to $795,415.
Townhouse sales activity across the entire RAHB market area also increased from October 2019 by 18 per cent, new listings were up 9.1 per cent, and the townhouse average sale price increased by 16.6 per cent to $603,229.
Apartment-style property sales increased by 32.8 per cent from October 2019, new listings increased by 78.8 per cent, and the average price increased by 9.7 per cent to $475,945.
