There are plenty of people wanting to buy homes in Hamilton, but the supply has seen a steep decrease from a year ago.

In fact, last month had the lowest number of January listings in the last 10 years.

There were 1,248 properties listed in January in Hamilton and Burlington, says the Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB). That's a decrease of 14.9 per cent compared to last January.

"Last month's sales were like the weather in January – warmer than usual," said George O'Neill, CEO of RAHB.

"When you put higher than average sales with the lowest number of new listings in 10 years, you get a continued seller's market to start the year," O'Neill said.

"Currently there is less than three months of listing inventory to move forward toward the spring market."

Sales were up 9.3 per cent than January of last year, and 4 per cent higher than the 10-year average.

Seasonally adjusted sales of residential properties were 12.3 per cent higher than January of last year, and the average sale price is up 7.5 per cent for the month.

Seasonally adjusted numbers of new listings were down 11.6 per cent than last January.

Meanwhile, overall residential sales – which were 735 units – were 7.8 per cent higher than January of last year. Residential freehold sales were up 9.2 per cent, while sales in the condo market increased by less than one per cent.

The average price of freehold properties increased 8.6 per cent over last January, while the condo market increased by 1.3 per cent.

The average days on the market increased from 46 to 49 in the freehold market and increased from 51 to 50 in the condo market.