The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported 743 property sales were processed through the RAHB Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) system in December. This represents a 21.6 per cent increase in sales over December of last year.
There were 659 properties listed in December, a decrease of nine per cent over the same month last year. End-of-month listing inventory was 11.4 per cent lower than last year at the same time.
The average sale price of $369,212 was 7.1 per cent higher than last December.
“New listings were lower than last year,” said RAHB CEO Ross Godsoe. “and were also significantly lower than the 10-year average for the month of December. Conversely, sales for the month were not only higher than last year, but were also higher than the 10-year average. It’s no surprise that our end of month inventory of listings is down double digits from last year at this time.”
Seasonally adjusted* sales of residential properties were 11 per cent higher than the same month last year, with the average sale price up 9.5 per cent for the month. Seasonally adjusted numbers of new listings were 8.9 per cent lower than the same month last year.
Seasonally adjusted data for residential properties for the month of December, 2013:
Actual overall residential sales were 20.5 per cent higher than the previous year at the same time. Residential freehold sales were 16.5 per cent higher than last year and the condominium market saw an increase of 37.7 per cent in sales. The average price of freehold properties showed an increase of 11.3 per cent over the same month last year; the average sale price in the condominium market increased 11.4 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 55 to 52 days in the freehold market and from 52 to 47 days in the condominium market.
“The real estate market in the Hamilton, Burlington and outlying areas continues to be a strong, stable market,” added Godsoe. “Residential sales are about seven per cent above the 10-year average for the month of November.”
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.