According to the Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB), in August 2015 there were more than 1,800 properties listed, with a sale price increase of 16.9 per cent compared to August 2014.
For the Hamilton Census Market Area, which includes Hamilton, Burlington and Grimsby, the average increase was 13 per cent.
A social housing revamp in Hamilton’s north end, which encourages homeowners of dilapidated homes to invest in their properties, is thought to be one factor in the increase. Another is Toronto buyers choosing to relocate to Hamilton for the overall lower costs of a home. That paired with improving transit access to the neighbouring, larger city, makes home ownership in Hamilton that much more enticing, concludes the RAHB.
Recent statistics released by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) show national home sales activity posted a small month-over increase in August 2015.
"August marked the fourth month in a row for strong and stable national sales activity," said Pauline Aunger, CREA president.
"While home prices increased in British Columbia and in the Greater Toronto Area, they have been holding fairly steady in many other parts of the country for some time now."
Gregory Klump, CREA’s chief rconomist added, "Prices continue to rise in Ontario and British Columbia, where listings are either in short supply or heading in that direction. The continuation of low interest rates is supporting home sales and price trends, and is likely to keep doing so for some time."
Other CREA highlights include:
— National home sales edged up by 0.3 per cent from July to August;
— The number of newly listed homes rose 0.5 per cent from July to August;
— The Multiple Listing Service Home Price Index rose 6.43 per cent year-over-year in August;
— The national average sales price rose 8.7 per cent on a year-over-year basis in August; excluding Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto, it increased by 4.2 per cent; and
— In Hamilton, actual residential sales of 1,251 units were 7.9 per cent higher than the same month last year, and set a new record for sales in the month of August. Residential freehold sales were 8.1 per cent higher than last August, while sales in the condominium market increased by 7.2 per cent.
"The increase in average sale price for residential properties overall and for freehold properties is a bit misleading," said George O’Neill, RAHB CEO.
"We report on all activity processed through our Multiple Listing Service, and some of those properties are not located in our market area. As it happened this last month, there were a couple of very high-end properties in Oakville which were listed by our members which sold for around $10 million. Those kinds of numbers can really skew our statistics. Looking at the median sale price is more helpful — the median for all residential sales was $365,000 and $393,500 for freehold — a big difference from the average of $501,830 for freehold properties."
CREA echoes RAHB’s advice to give consideration to all facets when looking at the numbers.
"One note on the Hamilton-Burlington data. You’ll notice the average price spiked in August 2015. Similar to the May 2013 spike and a few others in the past, this seems to have been the result of a jump in the share of high-priced sales (over $1 million) along with a couple of really pricey sales. As such, it’s unlikely to stay that high and any comparisons made against that August number will be stretched," said Pierre Leduc, CREA spokesperson.
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