RAHB’s Latest Updates

We would like to take this opportunity to remind you that when meeting with clients/potential clients to always stay vigilant about meeting locations and times. If you feel a situation is uncommon or strange, please listen to your instincts and reschedule to a more public location or your office.

Ensure you notify the proper authorities and RAHB, if needed. Watch NewsReal for upcoming courses that RAHB offers on REALTOR® safety and self-protection.

Hamilton, ON (August 1, 2019) – The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported 1,170 sales of residential properties located within the RAHB market area were processed through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) System in July 2019. This is a 10.3 per cent increase from July last year; however, a 2.7 per cent decrease over June 2019 and a 12.9 per cent decrease from May 2019. The average price for residential properties increased by 0.9 per cent from July 2018 to $593,702.

Please click here to read the full release.

Follow the links below for:​

• Residential Market Activity for RAHB Area
• All RAHB Residential Market Activity and HPI Report (17 pages)
• RAHB Residential Market at a Glance
• Social Media Stats Kit 
• Stats Map for Entire RAHB Area 
• RAHB Commercial Activity
• Residential + Commercial Activity for RAHB Market Areas
• Historical Chart

Burlington

• Residential Real Estate Market Activity Table for Burlington
• Burlington Market Activity and HPI Report (72 pages)
• Burlington Area Map

Halidmand

• Residential Real Estate Market Activity Table for Haldimand
• Haldimand Market Activity and HPI Report (58 pages)
• Haldimand Area Map 

Hamilton

• Residential Real Estate Market Activity Table for Hamilton
• Hamilton Market Activity and HPI Report (197 pages)
• Hamilton Area Map

Niagara North

• Residential Real Estate Market Activity Table for Niagara North
• Niagara North Market Activity and HPI Report (31 pages)
• Niagara North Area Map

As part of RAHB’s donation to Habitat for Humanity Hamilton, we have been invited to participate in a Build Day at the Waterdown build site.

There are 10 spots available for this wonderful opportunity, which takes place on Thursday, August 15 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

As a participant, you may not need to stay for the entire day; however, you will need to be on-site at 8:30 a.m. for the safety talk and instructions.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Caitlin in the RAHB office at 905.529.8101 x294 or caitlinl@rahb.ca, by Friday, August 9.

For more information on RAHB’s donation to Habitat for Humanity Hamilton, as well as Habitat for Humanity Halton, please click the below button:

Habitat for Humanity Donations

We have been asked by the Halton Condominium Corporation to notify RAHB members of lockboxes that have been left/stored at 102 Bronte Rd. in Oakville. The condominium corporation feels an unacceptable number of lockboxes have been mounted on a railing in the building that has been provided for lockboxes. The condominium corporation is going to remove any unidentified lockbox remaining on the railing at the end of August. REALTORS® who have stored/left lockboxes here should remove their lockbox, or identify their lockbox with an attached business card or some form of identification.

If you have any questions, please contact Alan Hubble at hubblealan@gmail.com.

GeoWarehouse will perform maintenance to Teranet Solutions this weekend during the following times:

• Friday, July 26 at 10 p.m. to Saturday, July 27 at 2 a.m., and
• Saturday, July 27 at 10 p.m. to Sunday, July 28 at 2 a.m.

As a result, you will not be able to access the GeoWarehouse Solution or make purchases through the e-store.

*UPDATE* – The Map for the exact area affected by the Interim Control Bylaw can be foundby clicking the link below:

Interim Control Bylaw – Study Area

Dear RAHB members,

We are seeking your feedback and experiences with the Interim Control Bylaw, currently in effect in the City of Burlington. Below are the details of the bylaw, as well as a link to submit your feedback.

Interim Control Bylaw (ICBL)
On March 5, 2019, Burlington City Council implemented a Temporary Development Freeze (Interim Control Bylaw, or ICBL) within areas of downtown Burlington and surrounding the Burlington GO Station. This Freeze will last one year, with a maximum extension of a second year.

On April 2, 2019, Burlington City Council amended the Temporary Development Freeze to include exemptions – “Building of pools, decks, fences and interior alterations are permitted. These types of developments are considered minor and/or accessory to the main use of the property. They are not considered to affect intensity or land use in the study area, so they are exempt from the ICBL.”

The construction of a new home or an addition to an existing home still fall within the ICBL.

We would appreciate your feedback on this Temporary Development Freeze – specifically if you or your clients have experienced any issues or disadvantages as a result of the Freeze, as well as how you think this Freeze may be affecting property values in Burlington.

To submit your feedback, please click the below button. It should take no longer than two (2) minutes of your time. We ask that you please provide your feedback by Friday, August 2, 2019.

To provide feedback, please CLICK HERE

Thank you in advance for your input.

On July 10, 2019, Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, announced the new First-Time Home Buyer Incentive. Below are the details, criteria and conditions of this new Incentive.

Details:

• The new Incentive will start in September 2, 2019, with the first closing on November 1, 2019.
• The aim of the Incentive is to help middle-class families take the first step towards home ownership.
• For the purchase of an existing home, an incentive amount of five per cent may be available.
• For the purchase of a newly constructed home, an incentive amount of five per cent or 10 per cent may be available.
• This is a shared equity mortgage with the Government of Canada.
• The government shares in the upside and downside of the change in the property value.

Criteria:

• The incentive will allow eligible first-time home buyers who have the minimum down payment for an insured mortgage with CMHC, Genworth or Canada Guaranty, to apply to finance a portion of their home purchase through a form of shared equity mortgage with the Government of Canada.
• The property must be located in Canada and must be suitable and available for full-time, year-round occupancy.
• Eligible for Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and non-permanent residents who are legally authorized to work in Canada.
• The incentive will be available to first-time home buyers with qualified annual household incomes up to $120,000.
• The above-listed income (up to $120,000) is subject to qualifying income requirements set out by lenders and mortgage loan insurers.
• At least one borrower must be a first-time home buyer.
  • DEFINITION: you have never purchased a home before; you have gone through a breakdown of a marriage or common-law partnership (even if you don’t meet the other first-time home buyer requirements); or in the last four years, you did not occupy a home that you or your current spouse or common-law partner owned.
• The minimum down payment must come from traditional down payment sources. Traditional down payment comes from the borrower’s own resources and may include:
  • savings
  • withdrawal/collapse of a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP)
  • non-repayable financial gift from a relative
  • NOTE: Unsecured personal loans or unsecured lines of credit used to satisfy minimum down payment requirements are not eligible for the program.
• A participant’s insured mortgage and the incentive amount cannot be greater than four times the participant’s qualified annual household income.

Conditions:

• No on-going repayments are required.
• The incentive is not interest bearing.
• The borrower can repay the Incentive at any time without a pre-payment penalty.
• Refinancing of the first mortgage will not trigger repayment.
• The Incentive is a second mortgage on the title of the property.
• The first mortgage must be greater than 80 per cent of the value of the property and is subject to a mortgage loan insurance premium.
• At the present time, the buyer must repay the incentive after 25 years or if the property is sold – whatever comes first.
• The repayment of the Incentive is based on the property’s fair market value.
• If your property value goes down, you are still responsible for repaying the shared equity mortgage based on the current home value at time of repayment.

For more information, please visit the Government of Canada website at https://www.placetocallhome.ca/fthbi/first-time-homebuyer-incentive.cfm.

And to sign up for updates about the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive as they become available, please visit https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/nhs/canada-first-time-home-buyer-incentive.

Please click on the below button to download (PDF) an overview of the Incentive, that you can share with clients.

First-Time Home Buyer Incentive ONE-PAGER